


Time Brings All Things

by MusingsOnBuckyBarnes



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bucky Barnes Has Cats, Bucky Barnes Returns, Cats, Fluff, Happy Ending, M/M, Not Captain America: The Winter Soldier Compliant, Switching, Thor: The Dark World, Time Travel, Topping from the Bottom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-12
Updated: 2017-04-27
Packaged: 2018-10-03 04:30:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 25,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10235933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MusingsOnBuckyBarnes/pseuds/MusingsOnBuckyBarnes
Summary: Steve finds out that Bucky may have fallen from the train in 1945 but that wasn’t when he landed…





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write a fluffy fic where WW II Bucky ends up in the present day and doesn’t have to go back. I didn’t expect that it would turn out to be over 26,000 words long! There are no action scenes in it, so there are no explosions (well, just some pleasurable explosions in the bedroom – when he and Steve reach that point).
> 
> Since this fic is all written, I will be posting the instalments regularly, probably once a week. And now that I have got this bunny out of my brain, I will go back to working on the last instalment of ‘These Woods Are Lovely, Dark and Deep’.
> 
> Beta reading thanks to michi_frog!

 

xXx

New York, 2013:

Listless, Steve lay in bed, contemplating the mirrors.

He wasn’t sure who had designed his floor of Avengers Tower. In the main bedroom, the wardrobe seemed to be never-ending. It was set into the wall, running parallel to the right-hand side of the bed, and the sliding doors of it were covered with full-length mirrors. This meant that when Steve was in bed facing that side, he could see his own reflection.

And that wasn’t a sight that he particularly wanted to see. It just showed him how lost and sad he felt. Alone.

He sighed and moved on his pillow so that he couldn’t see his reflection. He couldn’t even shift the lamp to fix the problem, because the lamp was mounted to the wall. Perhaps if he moved the stack of books on his bedside table forward a bit instead, that would work.

Until he had to get up and face the bathroom mirror instead.

 _Enough lying around. Enough moping,_ he told himself sternly. It wouldn’t do him any favors.

He went to the living room, with its wall of windows, and stared out at the mix of old and new. “Wish you could see this, Buck.” He got to talk with Peggy about it sometimes, all the changes, if she was having a good day.

Steve got ready to go for a jog. It would both do him good and distract him.

Fury was talking about a transfer to D.C. sometime next year. That would mean that he could visit Peggy more often. He could still keep his rooms here. A change might be a good thing.

xXx

Tony was busy in his lab at the moment. There were apparently some odd readings that JARVIS had detected, and they were both intently studying them. Steve was curious but didn’t want to interrupt. He would be ready if it led to anything that needed attention.

Steve read some newspapers and did some more of his ‘catch up research.’ He’d learned a lot in the last eighteen months about what he had missed, but there was always something else to capture his attention or another fascinating book to peruse. And not just books from the ‘in between’ time, but ones that he had never gotten around to reading back in the day, due to: time, the library not having them, the expense or just not having heard of them until now. And even though he was an enhanced human, there were still only so many hours in a day.

Often, he would see or hear or read something and think, _I’d love to hear your reaction to this, Buck._

And then there were the things that he had found out about too late to do anything about them.

Again, Steve made himself push those thoughts away and focus on his work.

The aliens in New York had been the first threat that Steve had to deal with in the new century. In his time back on active duty, that alien attack had been the biggest and strangest thing he had dealt with so far.

Possibly until today…

“Attention,” JARVIS announced on the PA system. “Avengers assemble!” He began issuing instructions.

Clint, Natasha, and Steve suited up and rushed for the Quinjet, where Tony was waiting. Bruce was on leave at the moment, studying calming techniques in the Himalayas.

Tony summed up the situation as: “Seems like we’re missing quite a crazy time over in England –there are dimensional portals popping up, which lead to other worlds, gravity is going crazy in places because of it, and there’s an evil elf trying to restore darkness to the galaxy… As they tend to do. The portals are the odd readings that JARVIS had been detecting, but we couldn’t put it together until now. Thor’s in the thick of it, in Greenwich.”

They rushed to provide assistance…

…only to arrive when it was all over.

At least the good guys had won, Steve thought with relief. Though at a great cost, including Thor’s mother, Frigga, on Asgard, and also Loki. He had mixed feelings about Loki, but apparently Loki had fought bravely and helped to save everyone.

The Avengers set about doing what they could to comfort and help Thor, and also to help with the injured and clean up duty. Thor couldn’t stay though, because as much as he wanted to remain with Jane and also help, he had to return home to tell his father of the loss of Loki and to face the music for his own unlawful actions, as well as make sure that his friends were all right after they had committed treason on his behalf.

“They did it to help Jane and I,” Thor said.

“And to save more than one planet too,” Natasha pointed out. “This was impacting on your Nine Realms.”

Steve nodded and added to Thor, “Go and make sure that your friends are all right, but also remember to allow them the dignity of their choice. They knew that the risk of helping you was worth it.”

“Wise words,” Thor replied.

“From a very wise woman. Peggy Carter.”

“Ah.”

Thor gave them all fierce hugs. He said, “Now that the Bifrost is restored, when things are settled enough, I would like you to come to Asgard for a visit.”

Clint and Tony showed their eagerness at that offer. Natasha was definitely intrigued. Steve knew he’d be up for it too.

Steve and Thor got along well – both probably wouldn’t know what to do without a battle to fight. They shared long life spans and confusion about some aspects of modern day culture. Though Steve almost envied Thor his enthusiasm. He wanted to learn from it.

They finished their farewells to Thor, then gave him some privacy to say goodbye to Jane. She and Selvig had been busy liaising with both the authorities and SHIELD about what had happened.

Then the Avengers suddenly had to race to deal with and corral a huge frost beast from Jotunheim, who had been stranded at an abandoned factory site in London when the Convergence portals had closed.

“It’s not the poor thing’s fault that it’s stuck here,” Natasha pointed out. “Let’s try to take it alive.”

“And how much tranq is that going to take?” Tony asked.” And where the hell will we put it? Oh, keep your patriotics on, Cap – if we can ‘bring it back alive’, I’ll build it a zoo. My father used to have a private one. This would be a _great_ centerpiece.”

“Or team mascot,” Steve suggested. “What are we going to call it?”

“Bernard II!” Tony said.

Clint said, “Tell Thor to come back and collect it. And ask him what the hell it eats. I’ll play fetch with it, but I am _not_ on litter tray duty.”

Steve waited for Tony to crack a joke back, but he didn’t. His faceplate was raised, and he had a distracted look. He said something which must have been to either himself or to JARVIS, as it was too soft even for Steve to hear.

Tony darted a look at Steve, then said hastily, “There’s something I have to check out – won’t be long. I’ll send my automated suits along to help you here. I’ve got some of them in the Quinjet and I’ll send for the others.” His faceplate dropped and sealed and then Tony took off.

Steve was puzzled and curious, but figured that if it was something important, Tony would tell him – or someone – in good time. He hoped Pepper was okay.

There was plenty to be getting on with anyway. They had managed to isolate the frost beast in the warehouse and now they were making sure that all of the exits were properly blocked off. Tony’s automated suits were able to move some of the shipping containers to seal entrances for now. Steve talked with the police and made sure that the children who had previously been hanging around the warehouse were all safe. SHIELD was also assisting the Avengers.  

The beast had a lot of room to move, and they were kept busy trying to work out what to turn into a temporary water bowl for it. And what the heck to feed it. And whether a dose of sedative would be a good idea to not so much knock it out but to keep it docile, or whether London weather compared to Jotunheim’s would have the same effect on it.

Then Tony’s behavior apparently became contagious, with Natasha receiving a message on her phone, and heading off to apparently have a private conversation. Clint received a message about ten minutes later and gave Steve a look after reading it, but he did not leave.

Before too long, Natasha and Tony were both back. Tony wasn’t in his armor.

“Cap, there’s somewhere you need to be,” Tony said. We’ll explain on the way.”

“What is it? Is Peggy…?”

“It’s not her,” Nat said.

Tony gestured to him to hurry up. “It’ll be easier to explain when we’re in the air.” He said to Clint, “Nat and I will be back as soon as we can.”

They both looked very serious. Steve felt like he was small and frail again, being handled with kid gloves. He got on the Quinjet.

xXx

“Okay, we’re in the air,” Steve said, trying not to brace himself.

Natasha put the Quinjet on autopilot, then she and Tony took Steve to a section where they could talk and face each other while do so. Uh oh. They all sat.

Tony said, “After we tell you, you’ll know why we’re on the jet, because it’s the first thing you’d have done.”

Tony was trying to be gentle and kept shooting looks at Natasha.

Oh God, this was NOT good.

Tony continued, “When all the portal activity was at its height, a lot of different things were coming through. Just off the coast of Cornwall, a research vessel was near one of those portals – not that they realized at the time. All they knew was that bad weather came out of nowhere and they were experiencing choppy seas. There was an odd atmospheric disturbance. Then a person seemingly appeared, apparently in mid-air, and fell into the water. Fortunately, more than one of the crew saw it happen, or they might have thought it was a hallucination or a trick of the light. They managed to rescue the guy. He was unconscious and still is.”

“Who is he? Is he hurt?” And how was it relevant to Steve?

Tony took a deep breath. “He was wearing World War II dog tags that say he’s James Buchanan Barnes.”

Could he be that fortunate? Could he and Bucky be that fortunate?

“Is … is he…?” _Is he all right? Is he really Bucky?_ But Steve couldn’t get the words out.

“He’s in a stable condition,” Natasha said. “The facial scans match. The scars on record and other details on his file match. We don’t have his DNA on record though.”

“Show me a photo,” Steve managed.

Tony put one up on screen. Steve made a choked noise. It felt like his heart was splitting in two and healing at the same time. It was Bucky. Right down to the cleft in his chin. Bucky lying in a hospital bed, his eyes closed. Bruised and battered. Alive.

“It’s him,” Steve managed to say.

“He’s still out of it,” Tony said. “Luckily he didn’t hit the water in calm conditions, though getting to him was dangerous enough.”

Steve nodded. Falling from a height into unbroken water could be like landing on cement. Though if a person fell from enough of a height it wouldn’t matter how rough the water was. Perhaps gravity had been all screwy near the ship too, like it had been in London with cars being able to be flipped over or thrown by people with barely an effort. That may have helped.

Natasha said, “There’s no spinal damage. His injuries were at first serious but stable; now his condition is stable.”

“That’s good though, right?”

Why were they looking at him like that?

Tony explained, “Yeah, but he’s healing quicker than they expected… There’s some stuff in his bloodwork – it’s not _your_ level of super juice, but it’s similar. It’s on the right track.”

Steve felt like sinking to his knees – to pray? To scream?

“Zola,” Steve answered quietly. “When Bucky was a prisoner of war, Zola experimented on him. Whatever he did helped Bucky survive the fall.”

How could he both want to kill and thank the man?

“If he hadn’t fallen through the portal, would he still have survived? And if he did...”

“That’s not your fault, Steve,” Natasha replied.

“What hospital is he in?”

Tony told him. “We’re heading there right now.” He brought up images and reports on several screens and also their estimated time of arrival. “This is live feed from his hospital room. We’ve got access to his vitals and charts.”

Natasha touched his shoulder. “Fury found out about this; he wanted us to check it out first before we told you. Because if we gave you false hope on this of all things…”

“So as soon as we were sure, we told you,” Tony added.

“I understand. Thank you.”

There was a pause. Steve asked, “Have you got photos of the dog tags?”

Tony provided them. Steve blew them up in mid-air in front of himself, 3D and huge, spinning them around to examine them carefully, noting the nicks and details. He did the same with the clothing Bucky had been wearing and the items from his pockets.

“They’re a match. All of it.”

Tony said, “He comes back to you like a homing pigeon.”

“The time when he couldn’t, I went and got him.”

Perhaps somehow fate had decided that it had played enough cruel tricks on them. Bucky was here and it wasn’t like they could or would send him back to 1945.

Tony went off into the cockpit. Natasha stayed with Steve. Not right beside him, but close enough to watch him and be there for him.

“I thought he was lost in a mountain ravine.” Steve closed his eyes in pain. “He fell and I couldn’t watch… When the bar broke and I grabbed and missed and I realized… I thought I’d lost him. I nearly fell too – accidentally,” he clarified. “I couldn’t look because I was a coward. I could hear his scream though.” He could still hear it. It was in most of his nightmares, no matter what they were about.

So he had not looked. That meant he had not seen Bucky disappear, instead of keeping on falling. But even if Steve had watched, he wouldn’t have known where Bucky went – or would he have been half-blinded by tears and grief and unsure of what he was seeing? Would he have thought it was some Hydra weapon? Would he have jumped after him? Down the rabbit hole.

Believe in six impossible things before breakfast.

Steve wanted to run, to burn off this energy. In a way, he wished they had told him about Bucky when they were on the ground, because then he could have run to the Quinjet – or ran or swam to Cornwall. The need to do something… He kept vigil over Bucky’s sleep on the live feed, like Coulson had done for him.  He paced back and forth as he did so. If Coulson had survived, what would he have thought to have another Howling Commando alive and fresh-faced in front of him?

Natasha tried to get Steve to eat and drink. If it had been a longer flight, he suspected she would have tried to get him to sleep too.  He kept watching the monitor. Even when he changed out of his uniform into some of his casual clothes, he watched.

He wasn’t alone in the future anymore. Well, he had his friends and they were great, but what Bucky had been to him, no one else could come close to.

What was the line in that Aladdin movie? _I can show you the world…_

He could show Bucky the future.

They had another chance.

And Steve would have to tell him what Bucky’s sister had revealed to the world during the 1980s…

He overheard Tony say to Natasha, “I feel like I’m intruding on a private moment between them when Steve’s just staring at him on a monitor!”

“He’s just had his whole world handed back to him.”

Steve hoped that Bucky wouldn’t wake up before he got there – he could recall his own disorientation. He didn’t want SHIELD or the hospital putting on a stupid ruse. Then again, he didn’t want Bucky seeing all the modern technology and panicking, thinking HYDRA had captured him again.

xXx

Tony and Natasha also talked to Steve about what he could and couldn’t tell Bucky yet, though there were a lot of things that Steve _could_ tell him, because they were a matter of public record. And SHIELD were also sure that this really was Bucky.

When the three of them arrived at the hospital, Steve turned to his friends. “Thank you both.”

“We’re staying,” Natasha said.

“No. Thank you, but you’re needed back in Greenwich. I’ll be all right.”

Tony and Natasha exchanged looks, then nodded. But they only went to leave after they had made sure that Steve was able to be escorted to Bucky’s side by a nurse without any problems.“If you need anything, call,” Tony said.

Finally, Steve was entering the hospital room, past a few SHIELD security personnel. There on the bed was Bucky. Still asleep. Not as battered.

How was Steve going to explain all this to him?

Steve had lived here for eighteen months without him. Eighteen months plus all those decades…

“Hey, Buck.” His voice shook a little. Bucky didn’t stir. “You caught up with me. Great to see you again.”

Steve touched his hand – he was real – and sat down beside the bed before his legs gave out.The vigil began.

He did borrow a comb to try to recreate his WW II hairstyle as best he could – which would have been easier with more hair but he’d had it cut into a modern style. He wasn’t doing this to trick Bucky, but to ease him in and not disorientate him. So he just flattened and combed his hair across to the left side as much as he could. He felt a slight pang of sympathy for the SHIELD agents who had been faced with handling his own ‘reawakening’, even if the baseball game on the radio had been a stupid move. Perhaps it had been a test. He knew that there was still a security camera monitoring the room but it was so tiny that Bucky would probably not notice it or realize what it was.

Steve held Bucky’s hand, while watching him or writing a letter or trying to distract himself. There were a few false awakenings. Bucky would stir and mumble, and a few times his eyes would briefly open, but then he would drift off again. Steve tried to be patient. Steve tried not to be terrified. The glimpses he got of those blue eyes sustained him.

Bucky blinked up at him. “Steve…”

He could tell Bucky was already sliding back into sleep, but he squeezed Bucky’s hand and said, “I’m here; it’s okay.”

xXx

Upon Bucky’s next awakening, he shifted a little, opened his eyes and looked at him. “Steve?”

“I’m here. Right here.” Steve leaned closer to the bed. “You’re in a hospital, but you’re going to be fine.”

Bucky frowned.

 _Here we go…_ “What’s wrong?” Steve asked.

“What did you do to your hair?” But then Bucky’s eyes flickered and closed again.

xXx

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to michi_frog for the beta!

 

xXx

The next time Bucky woke, he was more lucid.

Steve again reassured him that he was in a hospital, then Bucky said, “How’d I… Feel like I was in a bar fight… Have you cut your hair?” Typical sniper, noticing different details. “Not sure if Peggy’ll like that.”

Then he frowned. “We were… We were…”

Steve kept holding Bucky’s hand and waited to see if he could remember. It was keeping Bucky so occupied that he hadn’t registered the fancy medical equipment yet. Though there wasn’t as much of it as before, since he was healing so well and fast.

Bucky said, “The train. We were on the train. I fell… I thought I was dead. I didn’t think you caught me. You tried but…”

“Yeah.” Steve swallowed the lump in his throat and managed not to squeeze his eyes shut at the memories. He focused on Bucky instead. “Try not to move around too much. You’re pretty bruised and battered. But you’re going to be okay.”

Bucky frowned at him. “What’s wrong?”

Steve fumbled.

“I can tell that something’s wrong. What is it? Am I actually dying or something? A fall like that…”

“No! No, you’re going to be fine. It’s just that…” Where to begin? There was no easy way to put it. And the longer he left it, the more concerned Bucky was going to get. “Some strange things happened, and we ended up in the future.”

“Don’t joke… You’re not joking,” Bucky realized, then swore. He turned his head to look around the room and winced. “How far into the future?”

Steve said, “It’s 2013. Over seventy years. We’re in a hospital in England at the moment.”

“Oh.” Bucky’s grip on his hand tightened. He stared at Steve for what seemed like forever, and Steve wondered if Bucky thought this was some sort of HYDRA trick or trap. But whatever Bucky saw in his eyes seemed to convince him.

“How did I survive that fall?”

“When you fell from the train, you went through a portal – a sort of a rift in time. You didn’t land at the bottom of the ravine. You landed in the ocean off the Cornish coast.”

“But you’re here. Did you jump after me?”

“No. I took a longer route. A few days after we thought you died.” Steve explained about the Valkyrie and the downfall of HYDRA. How he had woken up in April 2012.

There was silence as Bucky absorbed this. Instead of telling Steve off, which Steve was braced for, he asked: “When did the war end?”

“It ended in Europe in May 1945, a few months after we ‘died.’ It ended in the Pacific about four months later.”

“And everyone we knew back then – they’d be very old or dead.”

“Peggy is still alive. Your sisters – I’m sorry, Buck, but they’re all dead too. Rebecca was the last, ten years ago. You have a lot of grand nephews and nieces. The Howlies have all gone.”

Bucky appeared overwhelmed but then seemed to make an effort to focus on the positive. “We’re still here.”

“Yeah. We are. Look, I’d better let the medical staff know that you’re awake.” They would already know, but perhaps they were being kind and discrete in giving the two of them a few minutes alone together for Steve to explain and for Bucky to absorb everything.

Before Steve could get up, a nurse did come in. Bucky immediately tugged his hand out of Steve’s.

xXx

The nurse was efficient and kind, and soon they were alone again.

Bucky said, “Zola – the mission. Was Zola captured?”

“Yes,” Steve replied. “The information he gave Phillips helped us to stop the Red Skull.”

“That bastard had to be good for something,” Bucky muttered. He took a deep breath. “How long until I can get out of here?”

“Probably in another day or two. You’re healing quicker than they had expected. But I don’t think that’s news to you. And I’m kicking myself for not realizing it sooner.”

Bucky’s eyes collided with his in a raw, honest gaze, then dropped. “Yeah, well…” Bucky muttered.

Steve didn’t want to push him and so he wasn’t surprised when Bucky changed the subject.

“What’s the future like?”

“Amazing in a lot of ways. Not so good in others. But very much improved now that you’re here.” He wanted to tell Bucky about the advancements in gay rights, however there were some other things he would need to tell him at the same time, and he felt that he had piled enough on Bucky for the moment.

“Has there been a World War III?” Bucky asked.

“No.”

“Good.”

Mentioning the alien invasion could wait for another day.

“And HYDRA was defeated?”

“Yes.”

Bucky was clearly tired but stubborn. “What do you do now? Are you still Captain America?”

“Yes. I work with a team of people called the Avengers, who are called in whenever there are disasters or major threats to security. I lead them. Howard Stark’s son is one of them.” Steve showed him a group photo on his phone and pointed out Tony.

Bucky blinked a bit at the phone, perhaps thinking it was a fancy photo frame at first or perhaps surprised by the vivid colors of the photo. “So, all of the Avengers are superheroes like you?”

“No. Some are, but Tony, Clint and Natasha aren’t super humans or aliens. They are people with high skill sets. And Tony has his Iron Man suit, which he created. He’s got so many inventions.”

“So, when I get my bearings and if I feel like joining in, would I be welcome in the Avengers?”Steve was surprised. He’d thought that Bucky would have had enough of fighting. But Bucky had shown time and again that he would follow Steve anywhere. And Steve had just as much of a protective streak; he didn’t want to be the reason that Bucky ended up in danger again. He thought about the disillusionment he had been feeling – had some of it not been about the future itself, but with his _work_? He wasn’t sure. But he didn’t want to burden Bucky with all this and he didn’t want to discuss that now.

“It would be up to you if you wanted to join. I’m sure the Avengers would agree. You may feel that you’ve done enough fighting for now or for a lifetime. For now, your war is over, and you can have a rest.”

Bucky considered this. “Travelling would be nice. To just travel to places to see and experience things, instead of to shoot and defend.”

“If you want. I’d like that too. I could do with a break.” He tried to make it sound light-hearted.

However, Bucky gave him one of those x-ray looks. To Steve’s relief, he didn’t push the matter.

xXx

“So _Thor_ is a member of your team? It’s not a nickname? You lead Thor, the actual Norse god of thunder?” Bucky was sitting up in bed, propped up by pillows but still more alert and mobile than when he had first woken up. He had eaten a meal, finishing it all, and had undergone some tests, physical and mental, to reassure SHIELD that he hadn’t been brainwashed by some villain. Bucky had cooperated with the tests but was tense and clearly remembering his time in Zola’s lab.

He was now questioning Steve about his team mates and Steve had also tried to explain more about what had happened with the Convergence.

Steve said, “Thor’s people are mortal, in the sense that they can die – his mother died a few days ago when trying to help halt the Dark Elves – but they can also live for thousands of years. Some of them visited Earth a long time ago and became legends here.”

“So he’s an alien. Have you been to his home world?”

“Not yet. Perhaps that can be one of the trips we do.” He smiled at the expression on Bucky’s face.

“Sure, why not?” Bucky said in an awed voice. “What have you been up to?”

“Catching up on what I’ve missed. Leading the Avengers.”

“And socially…?”

“Haven’t had time. Too busy with work and settling in.”

Bucky gave him an odd look. Steve felt defensive.

“And what did Peggy think of you turning up again?” Bucky asked.  
“Surprised, of course, and glad. She’s in the early stages of Alzheimer’s Disease – dementia – so sometimes she forgets that I’m back or that I even died. But it has been great to be able to spend more time with her.” Steve gave Bucky a summary of her eventful life, including her and Howard founding SHIELD, her being its director, what the organization had achieved, then about her marriage and children, her charity work and the advancements she had helped to usher in.

“I’m not surprised that she’s outlasted everyone else, by sheer force of will.” Bucky smiled, then sobered. “My parents… My sisters… They’re gone. They thought I died in the Alps. The Howlies. A lot of people that we knew. And all those years are gone.”

They looked at each other with matching heartache and empathy. Steve stood and reached out, wondering if Bucky would resist, but he moved forward into the embrace.

They were crying internally, acknowledging, mourning, and raging inside about what the world had stripped away from them, and holding on to the one thing that against all odds they had been allowed to keep.

xXx

Natasha and Tony had arrived back at the hospital and were ready to be introduced to Bucky. Steve met them out in the hallway.

“He’s doing pretty well, all things considered. But, um, remember that revelation that his sister made in the 1980s and that the press was all over me about when I came back?”

Natasha had been a child in Russia during the 1980s but had learned about it afterwards, then seen the press question Steve about it, after the Battle of New York. Steve knew that Tony recalled the announcement when it happened in the 80s, its shockwaves, outcomes, and then the press frenzy in 2012.

“Yeah, hard to forget,” Tony said.

“I want to tell Bucky about it, but when he’s safe in Avengers Towers. I’ll mention it to him as soon as I can then, I promise, but please don’t say anything about it to him now.”

“All right,” Natasha said. Tony nodded.

Steve made sure that Bucky was ready to receive his visitors, then brought them in.

“Bucky, this is Natasha Romanov and Tony Stark.”

Bucky shook their hands and said, “Ma’am,” to Natasha, just like Steve had when they had first met. He didn’t try to flirt with her.

Tony seemed a bit tense for some reason, then after a few minutes of conversation, he reverted to normal.

“Please tell me that Steve hasn’t been a giant reckless idiot while he’s been an Avenger,” Bucky said.

Natasha smiled. “Only so much stupidity can be cured.”

“From the photo Steve showed me, his uniform hasn’t changed much. He’s still being dressed up as a version of the American flag.”

“True,” Tony said. “But the material and tech are much better. I’ll show you the stealth suit I designed for him. Blue and silver.”

When it was just the two of them in the room again, Bucky told Steve: “I like them.”

Steve was relieved. “I think Tony was braced for you to make some comparison between him and his dad. But you didn’t; you took him as himself.”

“I did like Howard. If it wasn’t for him flying you to Azzano… But I remember how it was with my sisters – they preferred to be treated as individuals, rather than, ‘Oh, you’re such-and-such’s’ sister’ and being compared to each other all the time at school.”

xXx

There were also tests to attempt to work out just what the serum had done to Bucky. It had certainly affected his endurance and healing abilities, though not to the same degree as Steve. The scientists and doctors seemed to think that this milder version would still probably extend Bucky’s life, allowing him to age more slowly.

It really hit Steve then – if the portal had not been there and Bucky had kept falling and landed at the bottom of the snowy ravine, would the serum have been enough to help him survive the fall? It could have. There had been a search after the mission had concluded but it had been difficult terrain to comb.

He tried not to think about it.

xXx

Bucky was discharged from the hospital. Steve had bought him a few changes of clothes that were as similar as he could find to his old civilian gear (“These will do until you get the chance to do your own shopping.”). He had already given Bucky back his dog tags and the items from his pockets. Bucky didn’t put the dog tags back on and Steve didn’t press about it. He only occasionally still wore his own.

Then they, Natasha and Tony went to London. There, Steve introduced Bucky to Clint Barton.

“So you’re a sniper too. But with arrows?” Bucky asked.

“Yeah. It must sound to you like technology has gone backwards,” Clint said with a grin.

“It did sound odd, but arrows are still an effective weapon. And Steve said that your arrows aren’t always ordinary ones. How did you get into archery?”

“I grew up in a circus; that’s where I first learned it.”

“Dum Dum Dugan was a circus strongman originally. He had some great circus stories.”

They continued chatting as they headed into the warehouse to have a look (from a safe distance) at the frost beast.

Bucky gaped at it. “Holy Cow!”

Natasha chuckled. “Are you censoring your swearing on my account? If so, please don’t.”

“He’s not,” Steve replied. “That’s exactly what he said about Howard’s flying car in 1943.”

Bucky asked, “Is that thing a guy or a gal?” He couldn’t quite see its nether regions from where they were standing.

“It’s a dame,” Steve replied. He’d been kept up to date about the creature.

Clint sighed, watching his giant charge as she lay on the floor. “Pookums is a bit listless. Which in a way is good because she’s not barging around trying to burst out through a wall, but sad too, because I think it means she’s pining for the fjords.”

Tony nodded. “We’ll either keep Frosty at a private estate in the area, so she doesn’t have to be transported far, or she’ll remain right here. I’d love to show her off in the States, but the trip would be too dangerous for her and for us. So, until Thor can come back, here she stays.”

“Okay. And is everyone giving her a name?” Steve asked.

Tony nodded. “Most pets end up with a heap of nicknames.”

“How about Annabella?” Bucky asked.

Steve grinned. He explained to the others: “She was one of our cats.”

Bucky said, “When it suited her, she could be so affectionate. But otherwise she was so cantankerous and grumpy – reminds me of what you’ve told me about this beast. Plus, she’d let us pat her back and head and tickle her under the chin, but touch her on the belly and you took your life into your own hands. Or rather you found her wrapped _around_ your hand, doing her best to take it right off with her teeth and claws.”

Then they received the news that Thor had actually returned and was at Jane’s apartment in London.

Tony rolled his eyes. “Of course. He’s a lover and a fighter… I hate to break up his reunion with Jane, but we’d better mention Beastie Boy Girl to him. Because if we don’t have to move her anywhere but straight home, the better. And the sooner the better.”

“I’ll miss her…” Clint said with a sigh. Natasha gave him a sympathetic pat on the back.

xXx

Thor soon arrived, flying over via hammer. His hair was either tousled from the wind of his odd means of travel, or from his romantic reunion with Jane. Or both.

He arrived in time to interrupt Clint’s quizzing of Bucky about embarrassing pre-serum Steven stories or Cap stories (just as Bucky was striking a deal to trade them with the archer, to help fill him in on things about Steve that he had missed).

“My friends, thank you for looking after the beast! I will take care of it.”

“That doesn’t mean skewering her like a boar on a spit and serving her up roasted at a feast as the main course?” Tony asked.

“No. I assure you that I will take her back to her home world and release her there to frolic to her heart’s content.” Thor then turned to Steve. “Captain, I am glad to see you are looking very well. Much better than when I saw you last.” Typical Thor, taking notice of other people’s sadness even in the midst of his own.

“Amazing, isn’t it? The source of our actual ‘Happy Cappy’ is just there,” Tony said, pointing to Bucky.

Steve blushed. Clint had been prewarned by Natasha about keeping mum about Rebecca’s revelation, but they hadn’t had a chance to tell Thor. He’d just have to see how things went – it was unlikely that the Asgardian would even know about The 1980s Incident. “Thor, this is my best friend, Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes, otherwise known as Bucky.”

Thor enthusiastically did his forearm clasp greeting. “Well met, friend Barnes! Your name is familiar to me – Captain, you have mentioned him before, but…” He gave a puzzled frown.

“…but he was dead. In 1945,” Steve replied. “Somehow when he fell from the train, he went through one of the Convergence portals and ended up here and now instead.”

“The portals of Convergence as far as I know do not involve time travel. This is most intriguing. I am glad that they have reunited you.”

Bucky was a little bit star struck by meeting Thor, but not too much. After all, he’d had experience with meeting Howard and also other celebrities who had wanted to meet Captain America. Plus, Bucky had a natural charm, no matter who he was interacting with. And Steve had explained about what had happened with Loki and Frigga, so as much as Bucky would want to ask question after question about Asgard, he would restrain himself for now, knowing that it would not be the best of times to ask Thor about his home.

“It’s great to meet you,” Bucky said. “Thank you for helping the rest of the Avengers protect Steve while I was gone, and I look forward to talking with you when you have more time.”

“Yes, the sooner I return this misplaced beast, the sooner I can return to Earth and to my Jane.”

Natasha asked, “So you don’t have to stay on Asgard? Did you and your friends get banished?”

“My father was lenient. He understood our actions, and he offered for me to rule. I do not want the throne. I want to be with Jane. My father is still the king and he understands my decision.”

Steve couldn’t help but wonder if Odin’s acceptance was due to the fact that when Jane grew old and died, Thor would still be young, and would presumably return to Asgard then. Odin might consider this to be a version of ‘sowing of the wild oats’ before settling down. But that was not the sort of thing he could say to his friend. And he knew that Thor’s love for Jane was very strong.

Thor said, “We have had memorial ceremonies for my mother and brother. I will go back for visits and for business. And there have been some other strays from the Convergence who have needed to be reunited with their correct homes, so with the restored Bifrost we have been attending to that. I brought back with me two Midgard pilots who ended up on Vanaheim. Now, Jane and I have a lot of time to make up for.”

_I know exactly what you mean_ , Steve thought, glancing at Bucky.

“But at some stage when I visit Asgard, you will have to come with me, my friends.”

When Thor was ready, he raised Mjolnir and called for Heimdall to transport him and the frost beast.

After the impressive lightning show transported Thor and Pookums/Frosty/Bernardette/etc. away, the Avengers and Bucky were left in a warehouse that they now had to declutter of giant chew toys, water bowls, waste and various other paraphernalia.

Bucky remarked, “He’s great. I never thought I’d meet anyone with more muscles than you. And I was actually in the presence of his famous hammer!”

Tony looked like he wanted to say something like ‘Man-crush,’ but restrained himself.

xXx

On the way back to New York, Clint and Bucky spent some of the time talking about marksmanship and trajectories, etc. It wasn’t an ‘I’m a better shot than you’ pissing contest; instead it was two men admiring each other’s skills. Steve was glad they got on well, not that it surprised him. It also gave him a chance to sit back a bit and watch Bucky, quietly reveling in the fact that he really was there. Steve got out one of his notebooks and started to sketch him.

Then Steve realized that he’d forgotten to break the news to Bucky about the Dodgers. He did so as gently as he could, finishing with: “They outgrew Ebbets Field and there was all this stuff about New York authorities not allowing for a better field to be built. The management of the Dodgers got a better offer and they moved. Out of Brooklyn.”

“What? They _moved_? To WHERE? Don’t tell me they ended up in Jersey!”

“Los Angeles.”

Bucky spluttered a bit and started pacing and waving his arms around. “Los Angeles… They went all _Hollywood_? They’d better ‘dodge’ me. I’ll root for the Giants instead.” He stopped at Steve’s expression. “What?”

“They’re the San Francisco Giants now.”

Bucky’s face and reaction reminded him of how he had thought things would have gone when Bucky first found out at Azzano that he had become (a) huge, (b) a science experiment and (c) Captain America. But at the time, they had been too busy escaping from an exploding HYDRA factory then making a dangerous march back to Allied territory. This time around there was leisure for the ‘ _What? WHY??”_ outburst.

xXx

When New York appeared on the horizon, Tony called Bucky and Steve up to the cockpit to watch it, if they wanted. Bucky got up and Steve followed him.

Bucky stared out the cockpit window at his home city, with Steve at his side. “When I left for the War, I never thought I’d see it again… But I guess it’s true, because the old one has gone.”

“Lady Liberty’s still there, and she hasn’t aged,” Tony said. “Same with the Brooklyn Bridge.”

Steve nodded, then he put his hand on Bucky’s shoulder and left it there. “And the Chrysler building and the Flat Iron Building. Macys is still in the same place – well, it has a heap of other stores now but the Herald Square one is still there.”

Bucky peered down, frowning. “The docks have changed a lot.”

Tony took the Quinjet on a bit of a fly-over of monuments old and new. Bucky looked fascinated, but as soon as he seemed to be a bit overwhelmed or tired or both, Tony immediately and diplomatically decided it was time to head to Avengers Tower.

xXx

At the tower, Steve and Bucky said goodbye and thanks to the others, then headed for Steve’s floor. SHIELD’s PR people wanted to have discussions with them about integrating Bucky into the 21st century, counselling, psychological evaluations, and just when to announce to the world that he was alive. Steve had managed to get a bit of a grace period before all that started, so that he and Bucky could get some rest and regroup. With Bucky under Steve’s care and monitored safely in the Tower, SHIELD agreed.

In the elevator, Steve said, “There’s so much to show you. For the next few days, it would be best if we stayed in the Tower, before we go out. Get you acclimatized a bit. You can still get fresh air – there’s a rooftop garden.”

When they reached Steve’s floor, Bucky gazed around. “So much space… And no one shooting at me or that I’m expected to shoot at.”

“Yeah, I remember what it was like after I woke up from the ice.”

Steve introduced him to JARVIS and explained that JARVIS could answer his questions and how much of a help he was. Bucky was delighted and seemed a bit disappointed when he found out that JARVIS wasn’t incorporated into the homes of ordinary civilians to help them out too.

Then Steve gave him a tour. They started in the living area. “Tomorrow I’ll show you how the television and stereo system work. Oh, and computers and phones.”

Bucky looked at all the bookshelves. “At least books are still around.”

“Sometimes in forms that we didn’t used to have.” Steve pointed at a StarkPad. “There are thousands of books stored on that.”

Bucky was quite taken with the shower and with the size of the bath. “There are bathrooms attached to each bedroom? Wow. Is this a Stark thing, or a standard thing now?”

Steve tried to think of everything that had puzzled him about modern apartments, but he also didn’t want to overexplain and overload.

“This is one of the spare bedrooms. You can use it; we can decorate it however you want.” It was the closest one to Steve’s own room. “When I arrived in the future, mattresses felt too soft. They still do.” He hadn’t said anything to Tony about it – doing so would have made him feel awkward and ungrateful.

When Steve said, “That’s my bedroom in there,” Bucky had a brief look in from the doorway. He stared at something – probably those damn mirrors – but didn’t comment. For which Steve was grateful.

Soon Bucky was sitting in the kitchen, watching closely as Steve heated up soup and made them sandwiches. He offered to help, but Steve said it was fine. “We can do something more elaborate tomorrow,” Steve said, then blushed at the potential innuendo. Fortunately, Bucky seemed to be distracted by all the technology around him.

Bucky ate well and when he gazed out at the cityscape from the living area, he remarked, “We never would have been able to afford that view.”

“True. And if the city gets to be too much, there’s a SHIELD retreat out in the country that we could use. Or Tony would be happy to let us use one of his houses.”

Occasionally, Steve was aware of Bucky watching him intently when he thought that Steve wasn’t aware of it.

“You okay?”

“Just seeing what’s different about you. You haven’t seen me for over a year, but for me, you as the leader of the Howling Commandos was only last week. You’ve changed again, in some ways.”

“Well, you’re used to me changing. This time it isn’t so dramatic.”

Bucky gave him a look at that, as if he was about to say something, then didn’t.

They went to bed early, parting at Bucky’s bedroom door. Steve wanted to hug him, but he also didn’t want to crowd him. “There are pajamas in there, in that chest of drawers, which should fit you. If you need anything during the night, ask me or JARVIS.”

“I will. Thanks.” Bucky smiled. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

They were both back in New York. They were home.

xXx

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My beta readers are having very hectic lives at the moment, so this chapter is currently unbetaed but will be tweaked if needed in due course.

 

xXx

Steve had been asleep for several hours before JARVIS woke him and said, “Pardon me, Captain, but Sergeant Barnes appears to be having a nightmare.”

Bucky’s door was open. Steve hurried to the doorway and spoke his name. Bucky sat up.

“Sorry, Steve…”

“It’s okay, Buck. I know what it’s like." He wanted to sit down next to Bucky and hold him, but Bucky seemed to have that tense ‘wanting to be alone’ vibe. “Do you want to talk about it or can I do anything to help?”

“No. No, thanks. I think I’ll just read for a little while then try to sleep.”

“Okay.”

“Night.”

“Night.” Reluctantly, Steve went back to bed.

Bucky hadn’t said what the nightmare was about but he didn’t have to. Steve was sure he was dreaming about falling or Zola.

A few hours later, Steve had a similar dream, and at least he could then get out of bed and look quietly through Bucky’s doorway for a few seconds, to see that Bucky really was there, asleep.

He had fallen, but against all odds, he had landed safely.

xXx

In the morning, Steve saw that Bucky wasn’t moving around as carefully or stiffly as he had been in the hospital. His body had healed. And watching him, it all came rushing back to Steve about how much he had liked to observe Bucky in motion. As both a keen dancer and athlete, Bucky as a teenager and young man had a power and grace about him. Steve had become an expert at covertly watching – apart from the times when he had been sketching. Then there had been permission to look.

When Bucky had gone to basic training, it had been the longest they had been apart. When Bucky returned, Steve had been stunned. There was a new level to Bucky’s physicality. The army had given him more muscle but also an even more fluid motion. There was a coiled danger there; but it was also very appealing.

Not that Steve had got a chance to tell or show Bucky what he thought.

But now he did, and there was a lot to tell him.

Bucky stretched then sat down at the kitchen table. “Wonder how long it will take before I stop reaching automatically for my weapons when I wake up?”

Before Steve could reply, Bucky commented, “That shower is heaven on Earth.”

“Agreed. Oh, and if you want some Brylcreem, we’ll get some. They still make it.”

After they had breakfast, Steve gave Bucky some lessons about the appliances that he was most interested in or most likely to need to use. As expected, Bucky was amazed but picked up on the instructions quickly. The same with the entertainment unit.

On the TV, an announcer mentioned something about Thanksgiving.

“I get to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas at home,” Bucky said quietly. “Didn’t think I would.”

Bucky and Steve stared at each other. Steve felt like he had a huge lump in his throat and he was pretty sure from the look on Bucky’s face that he felt the same but was trying to hide it. “I’m sorry about your family, Buck.”

Bucky nodded. “It’s like with Peggy. They mostly had long, full lives. I’m glad of that for them. I’m glad we’ve still got the chance to live. And I look forward to meeting the Barnes clan at some stage. This morning I want to spend some time asking JARVIS about my family.”

“Sure. And if you want to buy things, Tony and Pepper have got a bank account sorted out for you. The army will work out your back pay – but while they do, you’ll still have money. You’ll have a credit card, so you can shop from home or in a store without going to the bank first.”

“Back pay?”

“Yes. I got plenty of it. You will too. Tony said he’ll give you a phone and computer soon. And I’ve got some of your possessions – things that were given to me or that I located during the last year or so. I’ll get them out for you during the next day or two. Your family would have other things, and museums do too.”

“Museums…” Bucky shook his head. “It’ll be interesting to see what’s still around. Or on public display! Not the semi-nude photos you did of me for life drawing practice?”

“They’re very popular. They were released on display well before I came out of the ice.”

“Oh Lord… Oh well, at least your artistic talent – and my muscles – are finally getting recognition.”

Steve then took a deep breath. He didn’t want to hold off on telling Bucky something any longer. _Here we go._

“So, I’ve been here in the future for about a year and a half now. There was a lot to deal with, and there were things that I found myself wishing that I’d told you. I talked to Peggy about it, during her good days, and she suggested that I write it down, like in a letter to you. That it could help, even if you couldn’t read it. I didn’t get around to doing a letter until I was waiting for you to wake up in the hospital. It doesn’t say everything, but it’s a start. I want you to read it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I mean, in a way I think it would be best not to give it to you so soon. To give you time to get used to being here first. But there are some things that you’re going to find out soon anyway, and it’s best if you find them out from me first.” Steve took a deep breath and took the letter out of his shirt pocket, then handed it over. “So, here. I thought it was better if you read it, because I might miss something or not say it right if I just talked about it. I’ll go and be in my art room, give you some space.” Not that Steve was going to be capable of drawing even a single line until after he knew how Bucky would react to the contents…

Perhaps he should have recited the letter to Bucky. He had certainly memorized what he’d written. But he was feeling nervous and thought he’d botch it. He left the room.

 

_Dear Bucky,_

_I’ve missed you so much and I’m so glad that you’re alive. It’s wonderful to have you back._

_After you fell off the train, I vowed to burn HYDRA to the ground for what they’d done to you, for what they’d taken away. You’d always been there for me, you had always seen the real me and helped me and defended me and when you really needed me I failed you. I’m so sorry._

_I know that it must feel so confusing in this new world. You can talk to me about anything, or ask JARVIS or my friends. They’re really good people._

_There’s so much I want to tell you. I’m not sure where to begin. For now:_

_There are some great things about the future as it is now, and one of those things is the change in attitude towards homosexuality. In a lot of places in the world it is legal now, and in some places – like England and the USA – gay people can get married._

_There are still people who are against homosexuals and gay marriage, but they are a minority now and hopefully that’s where they will stay._

_You’re probably wondering why I’m explaining this…_

_In the 1980s, a disease called AIDS became prevalent, spread by unprotected sex, needle sharing and blood transfusions. It caused people’s immune systems to become so weakened that they would be vulnerable to infections that they could usually otherwise overcome. A lot of people died, especially in the gay community. There was a lot of backlash against gay people. There were even people saying that those victims deserved to die because of what they were._

_Your sister stood up to the bullies and the haters. Becca went on national television and said she supported gay people, that she had gay friends, and that everyone had to work together to win the battle against AIDS. There’s news footage of her debating against politicians and protestors, and winning. She did so much to help people. She organized fundraisers and liaised with well-known people like actors to cut through all the confusion, fear and hate, and provide support and knowledge. Peggy also gave her support._

_And during this, Becca said that you had been bisexual and that you had been in love with me. She said she was proud of you and proud to be your sister. I’m so proud of her. She said that you had served as a soldier with bravery and honor and that so could other gay people. That other gay people were serving their country. Her announcement and her crusade had a big impact on the way that people viewed and treated homosexuality._

_I know that this must be a big shock to you and a lot to take in._

_After I woke up from the ice, after the Avengers had formed and we battled an attempted alien invasion and won, the press were clamoring for me to comment on what Rebecca had said. It was the first chance they’d had to ask me, because Fury and SHIELD had kept my resurrection under wraps and hadn’t made any public announcements. I’d only been ‘back’ for a few weeks and was reeling with culture shock and survivor shock and trying to catch up and had discovered that you loved me, then suddenly I was racing around trying to help save Manhattan from aliens._

_When the reporters asked during the post-crisis publicity about you, I told them the truth. That after you had died, I had realized just how much you meant to me. That I loved you like you had loved me._

_Even if I couldn’t admit it to you in person – or so I thought at the time – I was glad that I could get to announce it. To tell the world and not be ashamed of it._

_I did love Peggy. But I also loved you too. I just didn’t realize in what way._

_That’s another reason why I haven’t dated anyone since I’ve been here. I’ve been grieving for you and for everything we missed out on having._

_So, here we are. Against all the odds._

_I love you._

_And we are in a place and time where we can openly be together._

_However long it takes, whatever pace you want, whatever you want. That’s fine with me._

_Love,_

_Steve_

There was a long silence. Then Steve’s enhanced hearing picked up Bucky asking JARVIS something in a quiet, steady voice. JARVIS replied. Then more silence.

Steve couldn’t stand the suspense any longer. He went cautiously out into the living area. Bucky was sitting on the floor, his back propped against the sofa. He was staring out the window and looked stunned. The letter was on the coffee table.

Taking a deep breath, Steve walked up to him and gestured. “Can I?”

Bucky nodded. Relieved but still worried, Steve sat down beside him but also giving him a bit of space. For a while, they stared out at the world.

“So everyone out there already knows that I like girls _and_ guys…?” Bucky sounded overwhelmed.

“Yes.”

“Well, that saves some time. And it’s not illegal anymore.” Suddenly Bucky laughed. “Well done, little sister! Probably revenge for all the times I teased her or tweaked her hair. Though it wasn’t like she could ever have imagined that _this_ would happen.”

“True. Sorry that I couldn’t ease you in about it.”

“It’s the sort of thing that the sooner I know, the better.” Bucky gave him a long look then. Not an uncomfortable one. It seemed to be the gaze of a man who was finally able to openly look at the person he loved and not to have to hide it, even from that person. Steve gave him the same look back.

“So, the Avengers know.”

Steve nodded. “And they don’t treat you or me any differently because there is nothing wrong with being gay or bisexual. I do a lot of charity work about it.”

There was a pause.

Then Bucky said, “I admired Peggy. She was great. She was perfect for you. But I was also jealous. And I hated myself for that. Now look what’s happened. Did I stumble across some genie and make some selfish, screwed-up wish to have you for myself, and cause all this to happen?”

“I know what you mean.” At Bucky’s surprised look, Steve continued, “When I got the serum, suddenly I had a body and health and strength beyond my wildest dreams. But within a minute of that happening, Dr Erskine was killed. Then I became a performing monkey for the USO. Then I found you at Azzano – and it was like all the good that happened to me came at the cost of what happened to you and at the cost of Erskine’s life.” Bucky opened his mouth to protest, but Steve ploughed on. “So I understand how you feel that way; but it isn’t your fault and it isn’t mine.”

“So, after all this waiting and pining, we can be together. As boyfriends.”

“Yes.”

“I don’t want to wait any longer. But I guess I’d better not jump on you while I’m still getting used to being in the future.”

Steve smiled. “We’ll have a courtship.”

Bucky smiled then laughed and bumped his knee against Steve’s. “Yes. You may hold my hand. But don’t get any other ideas just yet.”

“I won’t. This is great.” Steve reached for Bucky’s hand and held it.

Bucky squeezed his hand, then smiled and shifted closer, so that their bodies were pressed up against each other, knees bumping. Slowly, he rested his head against Steve’s shoulder and neck. Steve felt happiness rush through him.

Bucky said, “Well, Becca’s speech does mean that we won’t be silently pining for each other.”

“That’s a relief. Saved us a lot of angst.”

“We need to see Peggy too.”

“Yeah. How about we go and visit her next week?”

“Sounds good to me.”

“And Buck… You said Peggy was perfect for me; but so are you.”

Bucky raised his head and gave him a bemused look. “You’re a sap. And you said in the letter that you felt guilty for not saving me. You saved me at Azzano. You did everything you could on the train to help me. I would have died if you hadn’t got that gun to me. When I fell…that was just bad luck.”

Steve felt something inside him shift. The guilt was still there, but Bucky’s words had eased it a bit.

Then Bucky moved and turned and they were hugging. Steve never wanted to let go.

xXx

During that day, Bucky asked JARVIS to play various interviews for him or give him access to articles on a computer, about his family and Becca’s crusade, including the key announcement that Becca had made and Steve’s interview after the Battle of New York. Sometimes Bucky asked Steve to sit with him or clarify things for him, but a lot of his research he preferred to do on his own, and Steve could respect and understand that. So he busied himself with things like housework, Avengers business, painting (with an urge to use big, bright colors), and reading in the same room as Bucky when Bucky was okay with that. They got to hug and hold hands at regular intervals.

At bedtime, Steve took a deep breath and blurted out, “Do you want to sleep in my room? I’d really like that. I understand if you don’t want to. I promise I won’t try anything. I just want -”

Bucky stilled his awkward ramblings by smiling, taking his hand and walking with him into Steve’s bedroom. They curled up in bed together and quickly settled down to sleep. Or rather Bucky fell asleep quickly, with a contented sigh, while Steve smiled into the dark, occasionally wondering if he should pinch himself.

A few times in the night Bucky woke up startled, scrambling for his gun, or repeating his serial number, and there were times that Steve had his own nightmares, some involving Bucky, some the Avengers. 

But at least now they could reassure each other and hold each other after those bad dreams or memories. And Steve could finally run his fingers through Bucky’s hair in the way that he’d wanted to for so long.

“This future isn’t so bad,” Bucky remarked.

Steve agreed. “I’m beginning to really enjoy it.”

xXx

In the morning, they were laying there in each other’s arms, enjoying a bit of a doze.

Then Bucky mumbled, “What the hell is with all those mirrors? You become Narcissus or something?”

“It must be a modern decorating trend. It wasn’t my idea! And you were the one who used to spend ages in the bathroom in front of one, doing your hair.”

“Hmph.”

xXx

Over breakfast, Steve enjoyed Bucky’s delight at the amazing variety of food they had.

Then Steve said, “I’ve been meaning to say, that SHIELD want you to talk to a counsellor.”

“Huh?”

“It’s a thing these days. A good thing. During the last forty or so years, society started to realize that it was a good thing to have someone non-judgmental and neutral to talk to about things that were troubling them. So, there are very highly trained counsellors who can help by listening and by making suggestions about how to deal with things. I’m not explaining it very well.”

“It’s helped you?”

“At the start, I mostly took out my feelings on a punching bag. A lot of punching bags. We’re from the ‘put up and shut up’ generation, but it has been good to get some therapy and talk to someone, when I got used to it. Same with getting back into my art. That’s another version of therapy as well as being a hobby.”

“Okay. I guess I can give the talking thing a try. But can I also do the punching bag too?”

“Sure.”

Then Bucky changed the subject. “You live here with the Avengers all the time? You didn’t want to live on your own in Brooklyn?”

“I thought it would be best to stay at the Tower while I got used to the future. I was thinking of moving at some stage but was waiting, because Fury wants me to consider a transfer to D.C. next year. That’s on hold for now.”

They discussed that for a little while – Steve’s SHIELD duties and about the pros and cons of living in D.C.

Bucky asked, “You’re still happy being Captain America? Even if the war is over?”

“I didn’t know what else to do. I still want to help people. So, when I found myself in this strange new world, being Cap was at least something familiar, something to hold onto, a purpose, a way to serve. Racing around saving the day is also a good distraction from losing seventy years… Now I can stop and think and catch my breath.”

“Live.”

“Yeah.”

xXx

JARVIS was very handy for Bucky and also saved Steve wearing his voice out explaining things or with summarizing events. JARVIS could concisely give a history of whatever Bucky asked about, like dancing, music, clothing and language (including swearing and not-so-good-to-use-anymore words).

Bucky would ask JARVIS to play him a song that he had heard about or at random from a particular era, then sometimes Bucky would exclaim, “What the hell is that? A heap of caterwauling?”

He sat absorbedly through a potted history of New York. Steve heard mention of the city nearly going bankrupt in the 70s and 80s, and about Ellis Island processing its last immigrants in the 1950s. When the chronology reached 9/11, he found Bucky staring stunned at the news footage.

At one stage while Bucky was busy with JARVIS, Steve had a private video-chat with Fury about how Bucky was doing and about his own leave from the Avengers for now while Bucky settled in. Natasha would be leader, and Maria Hill would join the team to make up numbers. It was also good that Thor was back on-world.

Steve told Fury, “As for a transfer to D.C. – perhaps sometime next year, but only if Bucky agrees that he wants to leave New York. At the moment, he’s got enough adapting to do.”

Then as they were winding up their discussion, Fury gave Steve a thoughtful look.

“What?” Steve said, feeling defensive and aware that his old Brooklyn accent was back.

“I get the feeling that today I’m finally seeing the real Steve Rogers. Nice to meet you. Talk to you again soon.”

xXx

For the first two days, the other Avengers had been good about giving them space, apart from the occasional text message along the lines of _Hope everything is okay; let me know if you need anything_. But then Tony insisted on a morning tea in the common room, with just himself, Clint and Natasha, to help ‘ease’ Bucky in.

“We’re trying to work out what joint nicknames to give the two of you,” Clint announced.

Bucky gave Steve a slightly alarmed look. He had been reassured by Steve and JARVIS about gay rights and laws but it was still going to take time for him to get used to being able to be open about his sexuality and that Steve’s co-workers apparently knew that they had become a couple.

“We can call you ‘Barnes and Noble’. Or ‘Starbucks’,” Tony suggested.

Steve rolled his eyes.

Apart from that, Bucky seemed fine – it probably helped that this was only a small gathering. He had usually been the life of the party in social situations, charming and attentive to everyone in his vicinity. He wasn’t as outgoing now, but that was understandable, and he still smiled and chatted easily enough.

When he was asked his impressions about things so far, he replied, “Those last few years were one big change and test after another. Having to go to war. Kill people. Became a POW. Got tortured and experimented on. Rescued by my best friend, who was suddenly the man that all men wanted to be… Took on HYDRA with him. Ended up in the future. This is a big surprise, but it could have been a whole lot worse.”

He elaborated: “It sounds like when Steve was learning about what he had missed, people expected him to be shocked and scandalized by everything. But the first full decade both of us lived through on this planet was the 1920s, an era well known for how radical it was! After living through World War I, people went a bit crazy. Then there was a sort of a moral backlash in the 30s, with some people saying that the Depression had been God’s punishment for how people had behaved in the 1920s...”

At one point, Steve and Bucky ended up lapsing into a private conversation and were quickly bantering back and forth, like they used to over seventy years beforehand, with all their verbal shorthand and in-jokes and old phrases.

For those few minutes, everything bad they’d gone through was momentarily forgotten. There was just them, their synchronicity, their entwined lives and experiences, the double act that was them as much as breathing.

They realized that everyone else in the room was staring at them.

Steve said, “What? Doesn’t our old-fashioned sense of humor translate into this century?”

Tony replied, “Okay, now we’ve known you in person for the last eighteen months.”

“So…?”

“So, hands up those that a few minutes ago was the happiest that they have ever seen Cap.”

Tony, Clint and Natasha immediately put their hands up.

“I’m sure JARVIS is also metaphorically holding his hand up too,” Tony said, “And it’s also the happiest I’ve seen you, JBB, though I don’t have as much context for you, outside of old film footage and photos and what my father told me.”

“I have a lot now to be happy about.”

“Good,” Tony replied, always up for people living their lives to the full.

Clint then asked, “So, Barnes, when are you going to go for a jaunt outside? On the streets?”

“Soon.”

“New York may not be as friendly as you remember. On the trains, everyone’s glued to their phones, reading their messages or surfing the net.”

Steve said, “JARVIS, bring up some photos from New York subway carriages in the 1940s.”

JARVIS did so. Most of the people in the photos had their heads buried in newspapers or books or magazines instead.

Bucky said, “Now I’m not denyin’ that a mobile phone is a lot more convenient to haul around, but we used to have _other_ portable entertainment.”

xXx

Natasha was the last to leave the common room, and when she was about to, she produced a wrapped present from under a seat cushion and handed it to Bucky. “A welcome back present.” Then she left.

Bucky opened it. It was a book: _The Gay Kama Sutra_.

He flicked through it, raised an eyebrow and laughed. “That’ll definitely come in handy at some stage.”

Steve went red, but he was curious about it too.

When they got back to their apartment, Bucky said, “I’m glad that you’ve got good friends here.”

“They like you too.”

“They like you as Steve, not just Cap.”

Bucky put down the book and stepped right up into his personal space. Their faces were very close and Bucky rested his hands on Steve’s waist. “And I’m a big fan too. I like you and love you.”

“I love you too.” He wanted to kiss Bucky but he thought it would be best, everything considered, if Bucky made the first move. Bucky – bless him – did.

They had their first kiss while standing in the living room. After such a long wait, it was well worth it, beautiful and sweet. After it, they opened their eyes and gazed at each other, noses nearly bumping. Then they simultaneously and eagerly went back in for more.

Steve thought he was going to fall over from how intense and passionate their second kiss was.

Kisses three through to ‘I’ve lost count but this is wonderful’ occurred as they stumbled together towards and onto the sofa.

After a very enjoyable kissing session there, they sat close while catching their breath and grinning at each other.

“So, I assume we’re going steady now?” Bucky asked oh-so-innocently, his hair ruffled.

Steve laughed and elbowed him, then sobered and asked, “When should we let the world know that you’re still alive?” _Way to break the mood, Rogers,_ he chastised himself. Fury had said that the decision was up to them, but that he and the Avengers would like some warning first.

Bucky frowned. “I’m not sure. It would be nice to have some time to ourselves first. What do you think? Do you get bothered a lot when you go out?”

“New Yorkers are usually still pretty cool and calm about famous people in their midst. That’s why a lot of celebrities live here. I don’t usually get recognized though; I try to dress in an ‘unobtrusive’ manner and wear glasses – yes, very Clark Kent-ish. In a way, I’d like to see if we can keep things quiet until after Christmas, but that’s probably too much wishful thinking.”

“I’d like to go outside today – as in out, to walk in the streets,” Bucky said. “Even if just for a little while. Go to a bookstore. It’s great that we can order things and get them delivered, but there’s nothing quite the same as being in an actual bookstore. I’d like to start with that. Especially since we can apparently now buy as many books as we like, instead of just using a library. And besides, I think that you and JARVIS have given me enough of a run down on 21st century life that I can cope with a first dose of what’s out there for an hour or so.”

“Okay. There’s a second-hand bookstore a few blocks away that I keep meaning to go into. How about we go there, then get some coffee and snacks and come back home? We could do clothes shopping tomorrow.”

“Fine. But perhaps a little more kissing before we get ready?”

“If you insist…”

xXx

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m on Tumblr at: http://musings-on-bucky-barnes.tumblr.com/


	4. Chapter 4

 

 

xXx

As they walked away from Avengers Tower, Steve could tell that Bucky was absorbing everything around him but doing it in a very subtle fashion. He wasn’t staring around like a brand-new tourist to the area. As a sniper, he had been able to absorb a lot in a short time.

“Interesting fashions,” Bucky commented.

“Wait until you see what they wear in summer.”

“From what JARVIS showed me, that’s often ‘not much at all’.”

They did find the second-hand bookstore, and it was very nice indeed, with lots of cozy reading corners, memorabilia, very well set out shelves and quirky posters (an example of which was a painting of a Scotsman, resplendent in his clan tartan, with the caption: _It’s a KILT. If I was wearing anything underneath it, then it would be a_ SKIRT!).

One customer was a white woman in her sixties, stowing her purchases away in what used to be referred to as a ‘capricious’ handbag. She was animatedly saying to the woman behind the counter, “- same as every other morning: wake up, stretch, and see what chin hairs have dared to poke their heads above the parapet. I’ll come by on Thursday to see if those Barbara Cartlands and Jackie Collinses have come in. Thank you; bye!” She bustled out.

Bucky soon got talking with the proprietor, who was a cheerful black woman in her forties. She was wearing a bright dress with geometric patterns, and Bucky complimented her on it. 

“Thank you. I love colors. Well, colors that aren’t beige.” She laughed. “Are there any particular books that you’re looking for?”

“Everything!”

She and Steve smiled at his enthusiasm.

“I do like that in a man,” she said. “It reminds me of _Educating Rita_ , where the jaded old tutor asks what Rita wants to know, and she says, ‘Everything,’ and he goes, ‘That’s rather a lot, isn’t it?’ Well, _I_ don’t think that’s true.”

Steve looked around at the rows and piles of books, like archaeological layers. He felt at home here, unlike in many other stores. “And it certainly looks like you do cater for everything.”

Bucky said, “I’d like to read _Educating Rita_. How large of a novel is it?”

The woman replied, “It’s a play – I’ve got it in stock – and it also became a movie.” She introduced herself as Morgiana.

“That’s the heroine from -” Bucky began.

“- _Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves_ ,” he and Steve said together.

Morgiana nodded. “My mother almost called me Scheherazade instead; which would have been even more appropriate for a future bookstore owner!”

“I’m James,” Bucky said. They’d decided that for now that would be his ‘outdoors’ name, for now.

“And I’m Steve.”  
She soon recognized just _which_ Steve he was, but did not make a big deal out of it.

Morgiana was, however, a font of knowledge about the best books for both of them to read to fill themselves in on particular subjects, and which ones were very highly recommended and which to avoid.

“There are only so many books you can get to read, so you need to choose wisely. And I’m not dissing trashy novels – sometimes that is exactly what is needed. A ‘take your brain off the hook’ book.”

Then Morgiana looked at Bucky and looked at him again, then from him to Steve and back again. “Oh…” She blinked. “You’re …”

“Yes,” Steve said quietly. “This really is Bucky. We haven’t told the world yet, but we will be soon, probably after Christmas.”

“You certainly deserve a peaceful Christmas. And I won’t tell anyone.”

Steve knew that she would keep her word.

Eventually he thought that they were almost finished making their choices of books, but then Bucky caught sight of another promising title or interesting display and hurried over to it. He was doing just what he used to do in bookstores, and that made Steve very happy.

Two more books later, Bucky was on his way back to the counter when he stumbled across a section about them. Captain America, Steve, Peggy, and the Howling Commandos. And Steve realized that although he’d told Bucky a bit about how they’d impacted on the 1980s onwards, he had forgotten to mention about how history had recorded them from 1945 onwards. The biographies. The documentaries. Oh God, the movies… And the fanfiction (where people had written a lot of ‘alternate universe’ stories where Steve and Bucky got their happily ever after).

Some of the biographies had been very well done. Others had definitely not been. Because history tended to remember people as society wanted them to be, not how they actually were.

“That’s a lot of biographies about us,” Bucky said.

“Yeah. I’ve read some of them.” Steve touched one of the spines. “That one’s really good. Perhaps when we get home, you can have JARVIS tell you a bit about them. About how we’ve been remembered. There are some memorials and statues for us that were well… flattering but a bit over the top.”

Bucky considered this and didn’t ask anything just yet, to Steve’s relief. Nor did he select any of the biographies. They took their other tomes to the counter.

Lugging their bags of books, Steve and Bucky then went to a café. Bucky whistled at all the choice on the menu. He was looking a bit on edge, probably having had enough of crowds and strange people for the day. When Steve suggested that they take their food and beverages home to consume, Bucky agreed. And fortunately no one seemed to have recognized them apart from Morgiana.

xXx

The bookstore would become a regular part of their routine, the same with a great coffee shop.

“I can handle the sheer volume of books more than I can the sheer volume of coffee flavors,” Bucky said.

He read a lot and exercised a lot. And kissing became a big part of their routine. They had decades of it to catch up on, and were certainly making a valiant effort.

Steve laughed. “Typical us, doing it all backwards. Sharing a bed first, then kissing.”

Bucky’s social life at the Tower also quickly grew. He and Clint had target practice together, and Tony brought him up to speed about modern weaponry and inventions and indulged his inner science geek (the latter especially with the robots he had in his workshop). Bucky and Natasha got on very well, chatting and practicing hand-to-hand combat.

Thor and Bucky talked on Skype or messaged each other about the things they were learning and being shown about this century.

“Have you tried Pop-Tarts yet, Bucky? They are incredibly delicious! I missed them while I was away.”

“Yes! And they’re great with peanut butter on top!”

Thor turned to look off-screen. “Jane, do we have any peanut butter?” There was a pause then he gave a fond smile and looked back at Bucky and Steve. “Ah, she is reading, deep in her research. She will not hear me. I will ask her or Darcy later. Or have another look through the kitchen.”

Jane was analyzing the information she had gathered from Convergence, and it was keeping her and Selvig busy, though Thor and Darcy were making sure that they took regular breaks and outings and meals.

Steve and Bucky also visited their old neighborhoods. Steve had done this pilgrimage before, so when Bucky wanted prior warning about what he was going to see, Steve told him. They also went to visit the graves of their parents and of Bucky’s sisters, taking flowers with them.

They looked at pictures of some of the memorials to themselves. Steve told Bucky, “I was in the process of designing a memorial for you, because I didn’t think that the others really were ‘you’, and also because I wanted it to be something that had personal meaning. I was trying to come up with a design.”

“Do you have any sketches?”

“No. I kept getting frustrated with them and throwing them out.”

It was interesting – and sometimes painful – to see the ways that Bucky reacted to his new reality, and the things that he accepted and dealt with quicker than Steve had managed. Steve wanted to try to cushion things for him as much as possible but he also knew that might not help. Bucky’s journey into the 21st century might have some similar aspects but it was not going to be exactly the same. At least Steve would be there to support him where needed.

One thing that Bucky did mourn a bit was the changes in dancing as a social activity, how different it had become.

Steve said, “There are still clubs that have swing dancing. We can go there if you like.”

“At some stage, perhaps. Not yet.” He was still getting used to being around so many people again.

xXx

An Avengers group training session was coming up. Steve was going to participate, as even though he was technically on leave and had regular one-on-one combat training, he wanted to keep his hand in and his reflexes sharp when it came to the teamwork. Besides, keeping active was always a good thing for him. Bucky expressed interest in joining in.

“You really want to become an Avenger?” Steve asked. “It’s just that, I thought you might have had enough of being a soldier.”

“Well, I’d like to do some training with your team. Get to know them more and keep fit at the same time. As for becoming an Avenger, I think I want to. But I’d better have more of a think about it first.” Bucky paused. “This is a different type of war. And as Avengers you’re not out there the whole time. Even though your friends have been great and have managed to watch your reckless back when I wasn’t here, I want to be the main one doing so. I’d prefer to be fighting side by side instead of sitting at home, waiting and worrying.” He sighed and looked determined. “You chose to have the serum; I didn’t. But I have it and I want to use it to help people. The ultimate ‘up yours’ to Zola and co.”

Steve nodded. As much as he wanted to keep Bucky safe, this was not his choice to make. And it would be good to have Bucky on his team again.

Bucky continued, “And you said that you wanted to use your time off to decide what you wanted to do. So, we can train and live and see how we feel.”

“That sounds like a good plan.” Steve elbowed him. “So, you don’t want to start thinking about your costume and your superhero name yet?”

Bucky laughed.

xXx

After the team training session in the gym, Bucky and Steve returned to their apartment. Steve was wearing his stealth suit.

“Damn,” Bucky said. “You really do look fantastic in that.”

That led to a steamy kissing session up against the wall and some heavy petting.

xXx

Bucky read some comments that his parents had made, that had ended up in his biographies. They had been devastated by their only son’s death, but said how proud they had been of him. It had been a double blow, losing Bucky and Steve within a few days of each other, but it had also made sense to them. The inseparable best friends were together in heaven. They tried to take some comfort from that.

Bucky broke down at that, letting out the tears. Steve cried too, holding him.

After a while, Bucky said, “They didn’t know that I loved you. Well, they knew that I did, but not the _way_ that I did. Wonder if they’d still have been proud if they had.”

xXx

They flew to D.C. in one of Tony’s private planes, to visit Peggy at her care facility. On the first day, the staff advised that it was not a good time to visit, so they did some sightseeing instead, though they were a bit distracted with worry about Peggy. The next day, they were given the go-ahead.

Steve went into her private room first. Peggy smiled and reached out from where she was propped up in her bed. They hugged and kissed.

When Steve drew back a little, she regarded him. “You’re looking very chipper and chuffed.”

“Why shouldn’t I? I’m visiting my best girl.”

Peggy smiled. “And I’m flattered, but it’s more than that… You’ve met someone.”

He nodded.

“Who are they? I’m very happy for you, but she or he will still have to pass muster. I’ll prepare a questionnaire. And a lie detector test.”

“No need to, Peggy. I know you approve of him. You’ve already met him.”

“It’s not Thor, is it? He seems to be a wonderful bloke. The two of you would create gorgeous babies!” she joked and laughed.

“No.” Steve held her hand. “This is going to be quite a surprise. There was some dimensional portal activity recently in England – I’m not sure if you saw it on the news – and Bucky came through, fresh from 1945.”

She stared at him.

“I’m not going crazy, Peg, and neither are you. Somehow, a portal opened up and when Bucky fell off the train, he went through the portal and landed here.”

Her grip tightened. “Is he all right? Was he hurt?”

“He’s fine. Adapting. You can see for yourself. I’ll bring him in.”

“Please do.” She looked dazed but hopeful.

Steve fetched Bucky, who entered the room slowly. “Hi Peggy. Surprise!” he said sheepishly.

Peggy took a deep breath, then held out her arms for a hug. Bucky went over and gave her one.

“My best girl and my best guy,” Steve said. He felt full to the brim with joy.

Peggy let go of Bucky, wiped her eyes and regarded the two men in front of her. “So, the two of you are together.”

“Yes. We haven’t announced it yet – actually, at the moment most of the public don’t know that Bucky is alive. We’re going to contact his relatives soon.”

“This is the happiest that I’ve seen either of you. It’s wonderful. You both deserve it. And you two would make gorgeous children!”

Bucky chuckled. “Speaking of which, let’s see photos of _your_ family.”

Peggy pointed out who was who in the photos around the room, then directed: “Steve, get the main album out – you known where it is.”

They talked about her family. Leafing through the pages and faces of Peggy’s life usually made Steve feel bittersweet; happy for her and proud of her, but sad for himself that he hadn’t been able to be more of a part of it. Now he felt an anticipation for the history and pages that he and Bucky would make together.

Peggy was having similar thoughts. “Neither of you really got to live your life properly, so I’m glad you’re getting the chance now, together. And that I’m still around to see it. I hope I don’t forget this.”

“We’ll take a photo for you and frame it,” Bucky suggested.

They managed to sit so that the three of them were holding hands. They talked about SHIELD and then about Bucky’s sister Becca and the modern world. After a while, Bucky and Steve prepared to go, so that she could have a rest.

“Welcome back, Bucky. I know you’ll watch Steve’s back for me, and for him.”

“Of course,” Bucky vowed. “And his front’s pretty impressive too.”

“Oh, indeed! And he’s still so dramatic, isn’t he!”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The three of them cracked up laughing. Steve felt like he would burst with happiness.

Bucky said, “It means so much to us that you’re still here. And thank you for supporting and defending us, and for doing the same for Becca.”

They kissed her and left.

xXx

The rest of their D.C. visit passed quickly. During their visit with Peggy on the next day she had a memory-failing and was surprised in mid-conversation that they were there in front of her, but they soothed her through the shock and kept their sadness off their own faces until they were out of her room. At least this time Steve didn’t have to bear his upset about her situation on his own – it was still heartbreaking, but Bucky’s arms around him were a huge help.

xXx

After they returned to New York, Bucky and Steve contacted Bucky’s great nieces and great nephews, and had a happy but emotion-filled Skype session with some of Becca’s grand-daughters. There were tears on both ends of the call but also smiles and laughter and promises of more calls and contact, and meetings in the flesh as soon in the new year as possible.

Steve was very glad that the Avengers hadn’t needed to be called on to save the day since Convergence had occurred. Even though he was on leave, it would be hard if something did happen and he remained behind. But he was enjoying the break and the time with Bucky. They were training together and also planning some vacations.

“The Grand Canyon, definitely,” Bucky said. “I’ve always wanted to go there.”

They spent a lot of time together but also made sure to have some time alone or with the others.

Bucky was fascinated by how fashion had changed over time – sometimes folding back on itself – and he soon put together his own style, a mix of old and new that suited him perfectly. He sometimes wore his hair in his old slicked back style, but often let it be loose and wavy and decided to grown out the back a bit. Sometimes he wore his dog tags and sometimes he didn’t; it depended on his mood.

They also visited the second-hand store a lot. Sometimes they didn’t buy anything but they always had a chat with Morgiana, depending on how busy she was. She helped to fill Bucky in on the women’s rights movement and the civil rights movement, sometimes aided by her mother, Fiona, when she was helping in the store or visiting. (Like her daughter, she had shrewdly realized just who this pair of bookworms really were.)

When Steve and Bucky were in the office/stockroom, having coffee and cookies with Fiona, they discussed history and the civil rights marches that Fiona had participated in.

Fiona said to Steve, “I know that if you’d been around then, you’d have marched.”

“Definitely. As soon as there’s another Black Lives Matter march, I’ll be there. We’ll be there.”

“Good.”

Bucky asked some questions about the 1970s. Fiona said, “Oh, the décor! Orange! Orange everywhere. It was like people went: ‘What’s the furthest we can go from psychedelic colors?’ ‘Burnt orange’. And shag pile carpet. Oh dear. The embroidery on clothing was lovely though. I had jeans with flowers on them. And the music was sublime.” She sat back and sighed. “Some of the things you two missed… Science deciding that it knew better than nature, like with formula instead of breast milk. Now things have gone completely the other way in that regard.”

On another day, Morgiana was looking at a selection of ‘best and worst dressed’ actresses in a newspaper.

“I don’t tend to watch the red carpet footage from awards ceremonies. It gives me breast fatigue,” Morgiana joked to them. “All those different ways to bare the boobs. It wouldn’t be so bad if the men could be more varied in their own outfits; show a bit of skin, walk down the red carpet in a tight, see through shirt… Just some equality!”

Bucky peered at the photos. “Some of those outfits… I look at them and wonder how they can sit down properly in them.”

Steve nodded. “Fashion sure has changed.”

Morgiana said, “It’s good that women can wear what they want, but I wonder how many of them are doing so just because they think they should. For women with normal figures, like me, it can be frustrating to keep having rake-thin bodies and diet plans and plastic surgery shoved at me. Girls have such pressure placed on them.”

“I saw an advert saying ‘Love your curves’, but the models they used were so skinny,” Steve said.

“Exactly. Mixed messages.”

Bucky said, “I heard you mention to a customer that you have fashion rules.”

“Yes.”

“Purple and green never to be seen together? Don’t mix two floral patterns? Or is that two stripy prints?” Steve hazarded.

Morgiana replied, “Rule Number One: Does it make me feel good? Two: Is it comfortable? Three: Does it suit the occasion? That’s it. If I don’t get a yes to those three things, forget it.”

“Those are the best fashion rules,” Steve commented.

xXx

Tony dropped by their apartment one afternoon and announced, “The media are closing in, guys. Pepper has managed to stop several news outlets from publishing tabloid photos of you two on your regular strolls, but she won’t be able to do that forever. Most of them haven’t realized that ‘Cap’s Mystery Man’ looks like Bucky or is in fact Bucky. Yet.”

Their winter gear had probably helped. Bucky had been wearing hats or beanies in the cold and his hair was longer – it had always grown fast – and sometimes he had stubble for several days. He also enjoyed wearing aviator sunglasses.

“Best if we put it out there then,” Bucky said.

So far in their walks, they had not done anything like hold hands, tending to still be cautious in public out of habit. Then again, from the way that they tended to stare at each other, it was the equivalent of passionate kissing.

Steve said, “Okay. The world already knows how we felt about each other, so the big ‘coming out’ announcement doesn’t need to be done – just the parts where you’re actually still alive and that we’re together.”

“Piece of cake then,” Bucky replied with the sarcasm that had carried him through the Depression and the War.

Tony looked gleeful.

 

xXx

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m on Tumblr at http://musings-on-bucky-barnes.tumblr.com/


	5. Chapter 5

 

 

xXx

Steve and Bucky decided to make their announcements as a pre-recorded interview by a reporter, Michaela Stein, who was known for her integrity. The interview would be fairly short and simple, with no big access to their lives.

They both wore suits. Bucky’s suit was the same blue color as his uniform pea coat. Steve was in light grey. In the studio, they talked to Michaela without the camera running, until Bucky was about as comfortable as he could get. Michaela had been a journalist for fifteen years, was a great listener and wonderful to talk to. They had fun discussing modern art, among other things.

“Bucky and Steve, are you ready to begin?”

Bucky nodded. “Let’s do this.”

Then they began recording. The screened results would at first only show Steve and the reporter talking to each other.  

Greetings were exchanged, then Michaela said, “Steve, I understand that a lot has happened in your life recently.”

“Definitely. When Convergence took place, portals were opening up to other worlds, and things, creatures and people were coming through. We found out that a person had arrived whom I had known.”

The footage then went to a camera angle that showed Bucky sitting beside Steve.  

“I’m very pleased to introduce my best friend and fellow Howling Commando, Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes.”

“Hello,” Bucky said to Michaela. “Please call me Bucky.” He then gave a small wave to the main camera before focusing back on Michaela.

“Welcome back, Bucky. This will be a huge surprise to the world.”

“It certainly was to me,” Steve said. “We’re not sure just how it happened yet, but this is definitely Bucky, from 1945, after we lost him in the Alps.”

“What do you remember, Bucky?” Michaela asked.

“I fell off the train and apparently went through one of the portals. We still don’t know exactly how.” Bucky explained briefly about landing in the ocean, and he gave a message of thanks to the research vessel crew for rescuing him. “A big factor in my survival seems to be that back when I was a POW in 1943, HYDRA had tried to recreate the super soldier serum, using me as a guinea pig. I can heal faster than a normal person and have more endurance.”

 “Do you have any plans yet about what you want to do? For example, becoming an Avenger?”

“Yes, I will most likely become an Avenger, sometime next year. I want to get up to speed with things first, and also do some travelling. It’s an amazing and bewildering future.”

“I’m told that you are aware of what your sister announced over thirty years ago.”

Bucky took a deep breath. “Yes. It’s true: I’ve always liked women and men. But I never acted on the ‘men’ side of my feelings until I came to the future. I can’t believe that I can say that out loud now. It’s finally legal. About time.” He and Steve smiled at each other.

“Bucky and I are together,” Steve announced.

Michaela smiled. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

Steve could see Bucky was blushing and he knew he was.

As agreed earlier, Michaela didn’t ask any questions about their relationship. Instead, she asked, “Bucky, can you tell us more about what do you think of the future?”

“I’m still getting used to it. There have been fantastic advancements, but in some ways the world is still lagging. Like in women’s rights. People seem to have forgotten how progressive the 1920s were for women – but then with the Depression a lot of that ground was lost. Peggy Carter is my friend, and, during the War, I saw what prejudice she faced, despite the fact that she had more brains than those belittling her, just because she was a woman. So, while it’s great that forward steps have been made, it’s disappointing that in over seventy years there still is so much more progress needed. It’s the same thing with civil rights.”

He thought for a moment, then continued, “It’s also bizarre to hear things like locals saying that Hell’s Kitchen is now a safe area – back in my day, it _was_ a safe area. I knew an actress who would walk home of a night from the theatre to her apartment, perfectly safe. But it sounds like it really became run-down and dangerous for a while there.” He shook his head. “New York is still buzzing with energy anyway. I’m glad to see that.”

The interview was wound up soon after. Steve and Bucky left the television studio, holding hands, and went home and prepared for their lives to change again when the interview was released.

xXx

The announcement nearly broke the internet. Bucky Barnes was alive AND in a relationship with Steve Rogers.

Fortunately, the bulk of the reaction from the public were of joy and support, with some people saying that it was like their fanfic had come to life.

Despite this, Bucky was tense at home, wishing the spotlight of attention would all go away. However, he was glad that their news was giving hope and help to members of the LGBT community. And he did manage a chuckle at comments where fans grumbled that Steve was no longer an eligible bachelor but some allowed that at least he was with someone who was worthy of him. 

xXx

Bucky came back from his latest counselling session, looking frustrated. Steve immediately put down his sketchbook and felt worried – had Bucky regretted what they’d said in the interview and how people were reacting?

“Are you okay?”

“I just don’t feel comfortable with that guy, the therapist. I don’t feel like telling him anything.” Bucky sighed and fidgeted, then headed to the fridge for a snack. “I’ve been going back to see if I could get used to him, get to know him, but it’s just not working.”

“Well, how about we ask Tony to recommend a different counsellor for you? Or James Rhodes could. Sometimes a particular counsellor just isn’t a good fit. Or do you think that’s not the problem? It can be hard to get past the mindset of keeping everything bottled up.”

Bucky sighed. “I guess I can try another counsellor. I know it’s important.”

xXx

Text messages:

_Thor: These adventures of Harry and his magic are worthy of telling in Asgard!_

_Bucky: I haven’t read them yet – mainly reading non-fiction at the moment_

xXx

One morning, Natasha came for a visit. She listened intently to Steve and Bucky’s travel plans – they were looking at doing some US road trips in January and February (including to visit Bucky’s relatives), then a few overseas trips – and she also had good suggestions.

Natasha also checked how Steve was handling things, with not going on missions.

“Pretty well,” Steve said. “There’s still plenty to do, and I’m still doing a lot of planning, team training and exercise. But I’ve done a lot of art, and we’re exploring the city and organizing our trips.”

“I’m glad you’re taking some ‘you’ time. You needed it and deserved it.”

Then she pulled out a surprising suggestion.

“I heard you talking about the old days, about your cats. I think that would be good for you again. What do you think of these two?” Natasha slid a StarkPad over. On it were several photos of a white-haired cat with a few light grey splotches on her back (one in a sort of a star shape, which was very appropriate) and a black-and-white kitten.

Steve said, “They’re gorgeous.”

“They’re at a nearby shelter. They’re not mother and daughter, but they’ve bonded. The kitten is the last of that litter still at the shelter. The staff think that the cat is around three years old. She’s been there for a while. Sweet nature, but people are mostly after cute kittens.”

Bucky gave Natasha an ‘I know what you’re doing, lady’ look, but it was amused. He then peered intently at the screen, reading the bio details of both felines. Both were very affectionate and playful and the kitten was three months old. The names the shelter had given them were Splotch (the cat) and Baroness Twinkle (the kitten).

Steve was very tempted, then reality set in. He said, “But we’ve got travelling planned…”

Natasha replied, “Yes, but not straight away. You aren’t going to do huge, long trips. And this building does come with babysitters.”

“What do you think, Buck?”

“Call the shelter. Tell them we’ll take them. Then they won’t be separated.”

“And when we’re not home, they can keep each other company. I assume you don’t want to keep the names that the shelter staff gave to them.”

Bucky pulled a face. “We are not saddling our girls with those names.”

“Okay. We can christen one each. Which one do you want to name? Or should we wait until we get to spend a bit of time with them first and see what comes to mind?”

Bucky gave him a look. “Their names are Brook and Lyn. You get to choose which one is which.”

Brook and Lyn. Of course. Steve gave Bucky a big, happy grin.

Bucky gave him a wink back, then turned to Natasha. “You’re godmother. Which means babysitting duties.”

“Just as well it won’t entail diapers.” Natasha had that satisfied look on her face. The one that said that the world had once again ceded to her wishes and that the world was all the better for it.

Bucky went over and kissed Steve. “Congratulations. We’re going to be parents, and it’s twins! Sort of.”

“Out of wedlock and everything… I may have to step down as Captain America.” Then Steve cast an eye around their home. “JARVIS, what do we need to do to make this place safe for cats to live in? Are there any plants that would be poisonous to them if they ate them?”

Natasha and Bucky grinned at each other.

xXx

They busied themselves in moving breakable objects to the safety of glass-fronted cabinets, followed JARVIS’s instructions about potential hazards, and saw that they could select a bewildering array of supplies.

Bucky scrolled through the online pet shop site JARVIS had recommended and kept scrolling and whistled. “Geez, Annabella was quite content with a scrunched up ball of newspaper, some string, and the occasional live mouse!”

Steve smiled at the memories. Annabella had been their favorite feline. At first she had lived with Bucky and his family, but she had loved Steve, and when Steve and Bucky had moved into their own tiny apartment, she had gone with them.

“Well, she did tend to use chairs as scratching posts,” Steve said. “And she took over any armchair or bed she wanted to and gave that ‘you are toying with death’ look if anyone tried to move her. Hey, look at these cute little beds they have for pets now!”

Then they got to bring their girls home.

Steve named the adult cat Brooke. She was very placid, regal, and loved shedding her white fur over their clothing just when they had a meeting to go into. She also had a cute habit of going ‘Brrr-MOW!’ every time that she jumped up onto or off something.

Bucky laughed. “It’s like she’s announcing it. _‘Hey world, look at what I’m about to do! Appreciate the effort, skill and grace.’_ ”

Lyn was a little whirlwind and a sook. Her meow tended to be drawn out and plaintive, regardless of the situation. So in the first few days, Bucky or Steve would hear, “Mowwwwwwww. Mowwwwww!” and they would rush in a panic to her to find out what was wrong, and she would just be: (a) sitting at the empty feed bowls, looking impatient, or (b) giving them an: ‘It has been over an hour since you patted me and told me how beautiful I am!’ look.

Bucky, referring to Lyn after another mournful ‘Mowwwwww’ session: “She’s your daughter, Steve. So dramatic.”

“Get the terminology right: She’s my fur child.”

Clint enquired, “Will you get a dog called Dodgers?”

Steve said, “Very tempting…”

“Don’t encourage him!” Bucky ordered.

xXx

They quickly discovered the joys of having pets watching while you’re making out.

Steve disengaged lips and said, “They’re watching us more intently than the paparazzi do! We can’t be that interesting to look at!”

Bucky shrugged. “I read that apparently watching two men kiss can be quite a turn on for women.” He ran his hand down Steve’s face, then further down his arm. The cats watched, clearly wondering whether to pounce.

“We get watched when we go out,” Steve said. “And we get watched in our own home. At least the girls aren’t going to sell exclusive interviews, pictures or secrets about us to the media.”

They also discovered the joys of a cat leaping into your lap when you are making out, and suddenly your kiss is also full of cat tail fur and unromantic spluttering.

xXx

“Any books on cat raising?” Bucky asked when they walked into the bookstore.

“You’ve got a cat? Where are the pictures?” Morgiana asked immediately.

“Two cats, actually!” Steve whipped out his phone and scrolled through the 1,000 photos he had taken so far of their new additions, just like any proud papa. Well, as he would say a little defensively, they kept doing adorable things that needed to be recorded.

Bucky’s attention was caught by the title of a book. He picked it up – something about self-therapy – then asked, “Morgiana, do you know if this one is any good?”

“I’m not sure, but we can look up its reviews on Amazon,” she suggested. “And there are some others that I can recommend.”

“Perhaps instead of a counsellor I could try the self-help books,” Bucky said to Steve, waving his arm at that section of shelves. He said to Morgiana, “I just haven’t found the right person yet.”

She replied, “One of my cousins is a veteran. He was Para rescue; now he’s a counsellor at the VA. He’s a great guy. Perhaps he could help you to find someone.”

Steve asked, “Is he at a VA center here?”

“No, in D.C. But I could give you his contact details if you want.”

Steve and Bucky exchanged looks, then Bucky said, “That would be good, thank you.”

xXx

It had been a great idea to get the cats. They helped Bucky to relax more and laugh, distracting him from the huge public focus on him and Steve. Stroking the cats was very calming. Okay, it was great for both of them (Steve couldn’t resist painting and sketching them and cuddling them) and for the other Avengers. “Furry therapy,” Clint said, before cooing at the nearest cat. “Hey, you should set up social media accounts for them.”

Bucky gave him a look. “Is that A Thing?”

“It’s A Big Thing. Someone once said that the main reason for the internet is to show and look at cat photos and videos.”

Bucky checked out some examples and promptly decided to follow suit. The cats of course became very popular. One wag commented on a photo of Steve with the cats: _So, here’s the only pussy that Cap is going to touch from now on._

“Classy…” Bucky said, with an eye roll.

It didn’t take long for Steve to remark: “Our cats have more followers on social media than we do!”

“Naturally. They’re cuter.”

“And they’ve only been online for a week… But it’s better that the focus is them instead of us.” Steve usually only used his own social media posts to bring attention to charity causes.

xXx

Natasha was highly amused. “Your voices change when you talk to the cats. You don’t baby talk to them, but you do speak more softly. And even JARVIS does that with them!”

Steve tried to change the subject but she was on a roll.

“And look at that nursery you’ve made for them.”

“It’s a playroom!” he said defensively, while holding a blissful dozing Lyn in the ‘upside down cradle’ position, gently rocking her. “It wasn’t like we didn’t have the space. And we didn’t buy them a heap of things, but then everyone in the Tower started to give us gifts for them. Then the public got in on the act…”

“Well, having a baby shower _is_ traditional,” Natasha said with a smirk.

The cats also gathered nicknames at an alarming rate and there was also a fierce competition between the Avengers about who could get the cats to sit on their lap.

Thor loved the cats. He nicknamed them Bygul and Trigul. Apparently his mother really did used to have a chariot that was pulled by two large cats by those names. When he visited, he invariably ended up with one of the cats perched on his shoulder like a furry parrot.

Tony would say, “How are little Barnes and Noble Juniors?”

Clint called them Ninja (Lyn) and Princess (Brooke).

When one of the cats was on Natasha’s lap, she and the cat would gaze at each other with the same inscrutable expression, that of the mysterious and the wise and unknowable.

And when Bucky called, “Lyn! Brooke!” Steve then remarked, “That sounds wrong: around the wrong way.”

It was great to come home and have the cats or one cat race up to greet them, meowing away. Of course, sometimes they were ignored by the cats. They also had to break up their occasional spats. “Girls!” Steve said sternly.

Then there was the fun of the cats deciding that Steve and Bucky’s bed was their bed instead, despite the other various beds, large and small, around the apartment. If they left the bedroom door open, at some point during the night they ended up with both cats on the bed, and despite the size of the bed and the fact that the occupants were two enhanced men, the cats managed to find the spots that caused maximum ‘the human is prevented from stretching out as he desires’ havoc.

Bucky said, “Tony, here’s a physics question for you: how can a fairly lightweight, definitely not obese cat suddenly develop the weight of a cannonball when she settles down on the bed?”

“I don’t know if he’ll be able to answer that one, but I do know that it would take a braver man than me to attempt to _move_ that cat. Perhaps if I had the full Iron Man suit on, I’d feel safe enough. But then there would be the nagging feeling that the cat would get revenge at some stage, plotting my downfall.”

xXx

Bucky and Steve started emailing with Morgiana’s cousin, Sam Wilson, and quickly found that he was a font of help and information and sass. He also gave great song recommendations.

Then they had a text chat (or rather Steve and Sam did, while Bucky made the occasional comment):

_Steve: Hi, Sam!_

_Sam: Wow, you two are up early._

_Steve: We’ve been for a run._

_Sam: Already? And what do two super soldiers class as a ‘run’?_

_Steve: We’d consider thirteen miles in thirty minutes a late start._

_Sam: Remind me to never ever go running with you two._

_Bucky: What unit are you with?_

_Sam: Fifty-eighth, Para-rescue. Did two tours. But now I’m working at the VA. Must have freaked you both out, coming home to this future. Do you miss the good old days?_

_Bucky: In a lot of ways they weren’t good. In others they were._

_Steve: Well, things aren’t so bad. Food’s a lot better. We used to boil everything. No polio is good. Internet, so helpful. We’ve been reading that a lot, trying to catch up._

_Sam: Marvin Gaye, 1972 “Trouble Man” soundtrack. Everything you’ve missed, jammed into one album._

_Steve: Thanks. We’ll put it on the list._

_Sam: Morgiana said that you wanted some names of VA counsellors and resources in New York?_

_Steve: Yes, please. Bucky’s having trouble finding a counsellor who’s the right fit._

_Sam: Sure, I can send through some information and we can discuss what else you need. And it’s your bed, right?_

_Steve: Huh?_

_Bucky: Sorry?_

_Sam: Your bed. Too soft? When I was over there, I slept on the ground and used rocks for pillows, like a caveman. Now I’m home, lying in my bed, and it’s like…_

_Steve: Lying on a marshmallow. I feel like I’m gonna sink right to the floor._

_Bucky: When you’re not using me as a pillow, that is. Or vice versa._

_Steve: We should get a more solid mattress._

_Sam: Good idea. Hey, when will you two be in D.C.? Because any time you want to stop by the VA and make me look awesome in front of the girl at the front desk, feel free._

_Steve: We’ll get there. Probably not until the new year though._

_Sam: Oh, and you two have cute cats._

_Bucky: We have the cutest cats EVER._

_Sam: Oh, that’s how it is?_

_Steve: Oh, that’s how it is._

xXx

Steve and Bucky were very predictable at Stark’s Thanksgiving dinner with what they gave thanks for, but they were so heartfelt and genuine that none of the other guests minded. Tony also had plenty of ideas for Bucky’s potential Avengers suit and his Avengers name, but Pepper told him no business talk at the table.

“Now this is a feast worthy of Valhalla!” Thor enthused, while matching Steve and Bucky for the sheer amount of servings he had.

While lazing around in their apartment afterwards, replete in food comas, Bucky asked, “So Steve, what do you want for Christmas?”

“I already have what I most want. More than I dared to dream to want.”

“Lovely, but not very helpful with the gift buying. Just as well I have a few ideas…”

xXx

Bucky and Steve lounged on the sofa, legs tangled together, Lyn half draped over them, while they watched a documentary.

Bucky laughed. “There’s nothing quite like patting a purring, happy Cap. Er, I mean, _cat_!”

Steve raised an eloquent eyebrow. “Well, if you _did_ happen to mean me, I’m pretty sure that I’d purr if you were stroking me. I’d certainly be happy about it.”

“That’s very hand to know…” They made out for a little while, but nothing too heavy. They were taking that slowly while Bucky adapted to the huge changes in his life. Courting was a lot of fun.

Their courting was interrupted by “Brrr-MOW!” and Brooke landed on them, scaring the heck out of Lyn.

xXx

They were having a lie-in one morning, after getting up to go to the bathroom and for cat-feeding duties. It felt wonderfully decadent to go back to bed.

Pillow talk turned to Christmas again. Bucky made a comment, remembering Steve singing carols such a long time ago.

So Steve started to sing: “On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…”

“…an orgasm or three,” Bucky finished.

Steve raised an enquiring eyebrow. “I’m very amenable to giving and receiving those with you. But are you sure?”

“Yes. I’m ready. And I promise that I won’t get you pregnant.”

“Just respect me in the morning,” Steve said, drawing him closer. “And that bedroom door had better be shut, because I don’t want a nosy cat interrupting this.”

They checked the bedroom door, then got back into bed and kissed and touched and were grateful for the new sturdier mattress as they shed their night wear and began more in-depth explorations of each other’s bodies than previously.

Steve discovered that having mirrors close to the bed could be quite a turn on. A very awesome thing. Glancing over and seeing himself flushed, gasping and sweating, eyes alight. Happy. Aroused. Alive. And close to … “Buck, I’m gonna… I’m almost –”

Bucky commented, “Apparently, some people have mirrors on the ceiling too…”

Mind: blown.

xXx

Afterwards, they were snuggling and blissful and that was wonderful, and soon they were ready for another go, and that was wonderful too. They spent hours in there and with their stamina and the handy en suite bathroom for in-between session clean-ups (“Hey, we can share a shower now that we’re dating.” “Yeah, and we can do things in that shower.”) and occasional glasses of water, they would have probably have stayed in there all day, too busy to listen to the occasional growls from their stomachs, however then there were scratchings and thumpings at the bedroom door, accompanied by indignant feline protests.

Steve said, “We do need to have something to eat and more to drink, otherwise we’ll be malnourished and dehydrated. Plus fresh sheets might be a good idea.”

Bucky grinned. “We can do it up against the dresser.”

“Oh Lord, I am never going to have another coherent thought again…”

xXx

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

 

xXx

Avengers Tower:

On the morning after Steve and Bucky had first ‘done the deed’, Tony walked out into the group common area and took one look at the two of them as they stood side by side at the coffee maker. “Oh Lord, now they’re freaking GLOWING! Where are my sunglasses?”

Steve and Bucky put up with some good-natured ribbing and some ribald toasts during breakfast, too mellow and happy to mind.

Clint said to Tony, “I’m surprised that you’re not doing a non-stop stream of jokes about senior citizens.”

“Oh please. I used to watch _The Golden Girls_. I am well aware that libido doesn’t come with an expiry date. I can still remember one scene where Blanche, Rose and Dorothy burst into Sophia’s room and found her in bed with a guy and asked what was going on, and she replied, ‘Afterglow.’”

After breakfast, when there was just Steve, Bucky and Natasha still in the group area, Bucky said to Natasha, “Hey, can you babysit the purr factories for us?”

“Where are you going?”

“Nowhere. We want to have some athletic sex in various places in our apartment, without them interrupting us.”

Steve knew that normally Bucky would never speak so plainly about his sexual plans to someone who wasn’t going to be a participant in said plans, but (a) this was the 21st century, and (b) this was Natasha.

Bucky continued, “I have _plans_ for that sofa in our living room.”

Natasha gave him a look. “So just put the cats in their playroom and make sure the door is shut.”

“But then we can hear them scratching at the door and whining. Kind of a mood killer.”

“Yeah, having enhanced hearing isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” Steve said.

She rolled her eyes. “All right! When and how long for?” Before they could reply, she added jokingly, “But I am never, ever sitting on that sofa ever again.”

Bucky shrugged. “By the time we’re finished with it, we’ll probably have to buy another one anyway.”

xXx

“I’ve been looking on the internet.”

“You know that’s a bad idea, Buck,” Steve said, sitting beside Bucky at his computer desk.

“Well, there seem to be all these people who insist that you are a ‘bottom’, then others who insist that you’re a ‘top’. And I don’t think they mean the Cole Porter song definition of ‘top’.”

“What _do_ they mean? I get the feeling we’re going to have to consult the urban dictionary page…and not like what we find.”

“It means that all these strangers seem to think they know about our love life. That you prefer to be the one ‘giving’ in bed, i.e. topping, instead of the one ‘receiving’, i.e. bottoming.”

They stared for a minute at the illustrative diagrams on the computer screen. And some highly artistic fan art renderings of their supposed sexual antics.

Steve ran a hand through his hair and asked, “Why is one or the other such a big deal? Why can’t a person like doing _both_? I certainly do! Doesn’t have to be a preference.”

Bucky nodded and mused, “And if, for example, you were lying on your back on the bed, in me while I was on top of you, does that mean that you’re topping from the bottom?”

There was a thoughtful pause before Steve said, “I’m not sure. We’d better not ask the internet. But we can conduct some logistical experiments on it…”

“Indeed. And I kind of want to try the position they’ve drawn us in.”

“Which one?”

“That one.”

Steve tilted his head, working out the logistics. “Oh yeah! That definitely looks worth a try.”

xXx

Afterwards, they went to the common area and found that it had been decorated with a big Christmas tree and a dazzling array of ornaments were everywhere.

Steve blinked. “Oh, Christmas. We’ve been so … occupied that I haven’t thought much about decorating our place.”

“What do you usually do? Well, for your first Christmas here,” Bucky asked.

“Not much. There didn’t seem to be much point in putting up a tree in my apartment when there was one in here. I didn’t really feel like it, I guess. This was enough. I did put up a few little ornaments that I saw and liked. I can dig them out. But if we have a tree the cats will think it’s their new personal climbing gym. We’d probably have to have it locked in a separate room, and that’s no fun. Perhaps if we just have a tree of our own out here instead.”

Bucky said, “Actually, modern science thinks of everything. I saw where someone posted a photo of their tree – it was a big _poster_ of a tree, so they could stick it on the wall then roll it up when done and it didn’t take up any space. So how about you _paint_ our wall and give it the best, most beautiful and elaborate tree ever? I know we’ll have to keep the cats away from it until it dries, but that’s better than for the whole month.”

“Now that is one of your best ideas ever.”

“What was my absolute best idea?”

“Saying yes to being my guy.”

xXx

Steve, being Steve and in love and happy, painted the whole damn wall, rendering an entire pine forest, with one majestic spruce in the center, dazzling with candles and ornaments – some of the latter recreated from their childhoods. There was a moonlit, starry sky above it, including the Christmas star.

xXx

After training, Steve was still in his Cap outfit and Bucky was trying out a blue and black body suit. They were definitely in the mood for some bedroom action. So naturally when they got into their apartment the cats swarmed and tried to trip them up and demanded attention.

“Typical!” Bucky said. “Yesterday when we got home they ignored us and kept dozing.”

xXx

Texts:

_Thor: CHRISTMAS CANDY!! (Or ‘sweets’ as they say over here.) A wonderful season! And congratulations to you and Steve on your consummation!!!!_

_Bucky: [responds with every single happy emoji in existence and a selfie of himself stuffing his face with Christmas candy]_

xXx

Steve was in his favorite armchair, reading (with a sketchbook close at hand in case something in the book set off an idea or the itch to draw). Bucky was sitting on their main sofa, with Brooke sprawled next to him. Lyn was probably off doing something devious, like zeroing in on freshly folded washing. Then Bucky got up and went into the kitchen. Steve watched Brooke. Her head lifted, and she contemplated where Bucky had been. Then she made a sort of wibble-wobble motion and just somehow _undulated_ , flowing across into the warm spot, without even getting up to do so.

When Bucky came back in, he looked at Brooke, then gave a put-upon sigh and sat down where she had previously been, instead of trying to move her. “Thanks for warming the cushion up for me, sweetheart,” he said sarcastically.

Steve laughed and explained what she’d done. “It was like watching quicksilver or a snake, Buck.”

“Just like the stuff you do with the shield,” Bucky replied. “Cats really don’t obey the laws of physics.”

xXx

They had Skype conversations with Peggy, aided by one of her great-grandchildren (with plenty of cat photos being shown and admired). And Sam Wilson had been sending them advice, websites and contact details.

In one of Sam’s emails, he said: _Some stuff you leave there, other stuff you bring back. It’s our job to figure out how to carry it. Is it gonna be in a big suitcase or in a little man-purse? It’s up to you._

They also had a Skype chat with him. Like his cousin, Sam had an infectious grin. He looked very pleased when Steve told him that they were really appreciating his wisdom, but then he sobered.

“Yeah, brother, we all got the same problems. Guilt, regret.”

The way he said it and the look on his face made Bucky and Steve exchange looks. They knew that tone and expression.

Steve asked, “You lose someone?”

“My wingman, Riley. Fly in the night mission. A standard PJ rescue op, nothing we hadn’t done a thousand times before, till RPG knocked Riley’s dumb ass out of the sky.”

Riley had fallen. Sam had watched Riley fall, like Steve had with Bucky. Steve squeezed Bucky’s hand, reassuring himself that he really was still there. Bucky moved closer to him and squeezed back.

Sam continued, “Nothing I could do. It’s like I was up there just to watch.”

“I’m sorry,” they both said.

“After that, I had a really hard time finding a reason for being over there, you know?”

“But you’re happy now, back in the world?” Steve asked.

“Hey, the number of people giving me orders is down to about zero. So, hell, yeah.” Sam looked at them closely. “You thinking about getting out?”

“No,” Steve said. Then he amended, “Well, before Bucky came back, I wasn’t sure what to do. I felt like I was drifting. There was talk of a transfer to D.C. for next year, and I thought that I could try it and see. That maybe a change of scenery was what I needed.”

“But now?”

“Well, now things have really changed. I’m still with SHIELD, still an Avenger, but I also feel more like myself in a way that I haven’t for a very long time, and I’m really looking forward to us going on some out-of-town vacations soon. It’s been great to take some time for myself. I’ve been doing a lot of art, which feels great.” And a lot of other activities with Bucky, which felt even greater, he thought, blushing. “And besides, I don’t know what I would do if I wasn’t Captain America.”

“Ultimate fighting?” Sam suggested cheekily. They laughed. “It’s just a great idea off the top of my head. But seriously, you could do whatever you want to do. It’s finding out what makes you happy.”

“I know what makes me happy,” Steve said, giving Bucky a look. “These trips will give me a chance to really relax and keep thinking about what I want to do.”

“Same here,” Bucky said.

xXx

They had more Skype chats with Sam and also phone conversations. Bucky liked the new counselor that Sam had recommended for him, but, “I’d really like Sam to be my therapist instead.”

Steve nodded. “But since we’re his friends, or becoming his friends, I don’t think that would be allowed.”

xXx

Their learning continued at the bookstore too, for example when a female customer in her forties said: “When I was growing up, I would read the Richie Rich and Archie comics. I didn’t get into the superhero ones. I think it was because I got turned off by how they portrayed the female superheroes. It looked like you could only be one of them if you had huge breasts and a tiny waist – nothing can grow in the shade, I guess – and you were in a skin-tight, completely impractical outfit that you were bursting out of. And the artists always seemed to pander to the male readers.”

xXx

Steve and Bucky were lounging around when they heard a “Brrr-MOW!” from the kitchen.

Steve asked, “What’s Brooke jumping up onto now? If she’s on the counter top… JARVIS, did we put the chicken away?”

“You did, sir.”

Bucky laughed. “Steve, I can’t believe you asked JARVIS instead of going in there yourself to check.”

“Perhaps I’m adapting to being in this century.”

“Or perhaps you’ve turned into a lazy ass.”

“My ass is not lazy, just exhausted after what we did earlier. And I am conserving energy for our next session.”

Bucky laughed even more. Steve retaliated with a very athletic sexual position that they wouldn’t have been able to maintain for long if they hadn’t both been enhanced individuals. It left Bucky with a dazed, delighted grin for the rest of the day.

xXx

Bucky and Steve were at another morning tea with Tony, Natasha and Clint when JARVIS let them know that a priority video call was coming through from Fury.

He appeared on the screen.

“I have some interesting news. SHIELD recently located the remains of what Stark will probably call a ‘mad scientist’s lab’ in England. This particular mad scientist, Simon St Giles, knew about Convergence and was trying to take advantage of it. He was trying to harness the portals – to use their power and energy.”

Tony frowned. “But the Convergence only lasts for a certain, relatively small amount of time. Was he hoping to do all his dastardly deeds during that time or drain off enough power from them to use for the next few decades?”

“St Giles was trying to re-calibrate a portal, so that he could control it, and open and close it at will, even after the Convergence,” Fury explained. “Gaining a colossal energy supply was a part of it. We’ve come across what’s left of some major storage devices he’d put together in preparation.”

“So how far did St Giles get with his plans?” Natasha asked.

“He had partial success. From what we’ve been able to put together so far, he was able to turn a portal into a time travel gate and then open the other end of it where and when he wanted. He decided to test it by attempting to kidnap Sergeant Barnes from 1945.”

There was a pause. Steve and Bucky looked at each other.

Steve asked Fury, “How large are the portals? The precision needed to catch a falling body in a ravine…”

“Their size can vary. St Giles may have made sure it was a fairly wide portal – casting a large net, so to speak. But it may only have been noticeable when something or someone went through it.”

Steve said, “And I wasn’t looking by that stage…”

Tony was shaking his head. “How did he manage to place the portal so accurately, though?” He addressed Steve and Bucky. “The train was still moving very fast, wasn’t it? It wasn’t like Mr-I-Want-to-be-a-Time-Lord could get exact coordinates of just when Barnes was about to fall.”

Fury said, “It seems that somehow he was able to lock the portal onto Barnes in some way, or onto the train. We can’t tell how for sure yet – you and JARVIS may be able to get to the bottom of it. But then St Giles lost control of the portal. So Barnes ended up splashing down in the sea instead of in an area that had been specially prepared. And there was a power backlash in the laboratory. It killed St Giles and destroyed a lot of the place. His lab was in an underground area on a huge private estate that he owned, so it wasn’t until some time afterwards that we found out. Then it has taken this long to piece together this much and how it all tied in with Barnes.”

“And if this mad scientist had succeeded, what was he planning to do with me?” Bucky asked, pale but grim.

“Possibly use you as leverage against the Avengers. And even if you had died after falling through the portal, he still would have known that the portal worked. There are a lot of unanswered questions.”

“We should tell Thor,” Clint said. “He and the scientists on Asgard might be able to study the information.”

They discussed it some more, then Fury said he would send the data that they had so far to Thor and to JARVIS.

“Oh good, a challenge,” Tony said.

Then Fury wanted to speak to Steve and Bucky alone.

When the others had left, Fury smiled. “Sargent Barnes, I look forward to you becoming an Avenger. Perhaps you’ll be able to convince Rogers to wear a parachute.”

“Is he still trying to do that?” Bucky turned to Steve, incredulous. “Are you still trying to pull that stunt?”

Steve gave Fury an unimpressed look. Fury looked smug, then asked about their upcoming vacation trips.

After Fury signed off, Bucky commented, “Fury is as cool as Phillips was.”

“Agreed.” Steve found he was having mixed feelings about the mad scientist, the same with Zola. Anger about what they had both done, yet their actions had also saved Bucky.

xXx

Their peaceful sleep was shattered around 5am one morning by the unmistakable sound of breaking glass. Steve and Bucky raced out of the bedroom (with some trouble when they both tried to get through the doorway at the same time) and into the living room.

There was enough light for them to see what had happened. No attacks from supervillains. Brooke was down on the floor next to the remnants of a Galileo thermometer they had bought and forgotten to put away. Brooke was very calm. Lyn, on the other hand, was standing on an armrest of the sofa, her fur and tail boofed up, as she looked around wildly with an expression that was pure: “What was that? WHAT?? Whatever it was, _it wasn’t me_!”

Steve and Bucky hurried to pick the cats up and check that their paws hadn’t been cut and that they were otherwise uninjured. Reassured and relieved on that count, they then banished them to the playroom until they were satisfied that all the glass bits had been cleaned up.

“I thought we put away everything that they could potentially break,” Steve said.

Bucky shrugged. “Well, with all the Christmas presents we’ve been buying and wrapping, we had to miss something.”

Later that morning, Steve posted a photo of the breakage on his social media pages, then followed it up by a photo of a very unrepentant Brooke, with the caption: _Number 1 suspect_. Then a photo of Lyn with: _Guilty sidekick or innocent bystander?_

On Brooke’s social media pages, they posted the photos and then the message: _Yes, I did it. No, I am not sorry. Yes, I will probably do it again._

xXx

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Galileo thermometer incident is based off my own experience when babysitting my brother’s cats years ago, right down to how the cats reacted. Unfortunately, I did not have Steve or Bucky to help me to clean it up.
> 
> The final chapter will be posted in a week’s time.


	7. Chapter 7

 

xXx

Sam said over the phone, “Hey, the next time you two come to D.C., you can stay with me. I cook a great breakfast. If you guys eat that sort of thing, of course.”

Steve replied, “It’ll be great to see you. And we’ll bring our running gear.”

xXx

The morning of 24 December 2013:

Bucky announced to Steve, “I’m planning something as a surprise for you, an early Christmas present, so you’ll have to go out for the morning so I can get it ready.”

“Okay, but you’ll have to take photos of the girls to show how much they’re missing me. And any hints?”

“No. Plus if you try to sneak back in, JARVIS will tell.”

“Fine… I’ve got some last minute Christmas stuff to sort out anyway.”

“I’ll send you a text when you’re allowed to come back.” Bucky hurried Steve out so quickly that Steve didn’t even have time to shave.

xXx

Upon Steve’s return to their apartment, he immediately called out, “Okay, where is it?”

Bucky walked out of the kitchen. He was wearing a bathrobe. “Eager. Good! It’s in the bedroom. The girls are visiting with Clint, the cool uncle. And you are going to strip now. All the way.”

Steve dumped his armful of wrapped purchases and shed his clothing with alacrity.

Bucky then opened the front of his own bathrobe, revealing to Steve’s complete lack of surprise that he was naked underneath. “You look so damn good, Steve. And you’re going to look even better with this on.” Bucky pulled something out of the pocket of his dressing gown.

It was a long and narrow piece of cobalt blue silk. A scarf?

“You gonna tie me to the headboard?” Steve asked, his voice getting deeper at the thought.

Bucky grinned. “Perhaps later.”

“It’s a blindfold?”

“Yeah. Any objections?”

“No.” They hadn’t tried that yet but Steve was certainly up for it. Very up.

Bucky tied the length of silk gently but firmly around Steve’s head, over his eyes. Steve then heard Bucky’s robe land on the floor.

“Come on,” Bucky said, taking hold of his hand. “We’re going to the bedroom.”

As they approached the bedroom, Steve could smell scented candles and Bucky’s Old Spice.

As soon as they were inside the bedroom, Steve asked, “So, when can I take this blindfold off?”

“You don’t. You keep it on.”

“You spent hours doing something for me as a surprise that I don’t even get to see?”

“You will eventually, but not just yet. Now I’m going to lead you to the bed.”

As Bucky guided him along, Steve though that he could smell something under the scented candles. Glue? Wood shavings?

The bed was in the same place. And when Steve lay down on it, he discovered that it had been bedecked in silk or satin sheets. “Ohhhhh…” It was an incredible feeling against his naked skin.  He sprawled out and wriggled sensually. Bucky made an appreciative noise.

Steve said, “That feels incredible, and also like I might slide right off!”

“I’ll just have to anchor you down then… And the sooner the better, as you moving around like that is very distracting. And inspirational.”

Soon, Bucky was on top of him. Steve couldn’t see him, but he could feel and hear him and occasionally taste him when they kissed or when he got his mouth on any part of Bucky within reach, and it was fantastic. They moved back and forth, their cocks rubbing together.

Their rhythm increasing, moans and declarations and each other’s names filling the air.

They were close to coming. Then Bucky pulled the blindfold off Steve. Steve looked up and he saw Bucky. But he could also see something past Bucky…himself? It was his own reflection. There was a large mirror on the ceiling, right above their bed.

He could see his own face and its reactions as Bucky’s naked body moved on top of him.

Steve went off like a rocket. Bucky wasn’t far behind him.

xXx

“What was it like watching us?” Bucky inquired when he had got enough breath back.

“Fantastic. Incredibly hot. It made everything even more intense.”

Bucky gave him a completely justified satisfied smirk. “Good. Same. What do you want to do for round 2?”

“Reverse it. You lying on the mattress, with the blindfold on, then when I pull it off, you see how sexy we look. Then as for round 3, I want you to tie me to the headboard.”

“Sure. That all takes care of the next hour or so.”

xXx

A while later, they were snuggling, having a rest, when Steve frowned and had a closer look at something.

“Hey, there are a heap of little holes in my pillow case.” Steve poked at the material. “Tiny moths? Did the cats get in and knead at them with their claws? Or you need to get a refund on the supposed quality of your purchase?”

Bucky examined it for a few seconds, frowned, then rolled his eyes and said, “Your own stubble is the culprit!”

Steve laughed, then shifted, and felt like he was about to slip right off the bed and possibly off the edge of the world too. He clung to Bucky. “These sheets may feel amazing, but they’re not all they’re cracked up to be. Perhaps we should get sides made for the bed, like on a baby’s crib, for when we use them. Oh, and I don’t think I’m going to be able to match the Christmas presents that you’ve given to me.”

“Really? Steve, you’re an expert at strategy and tactics. You’re very creative. I’m sure you can find _some_ things.”

“Giving orgasms never gets old. And there are some positions I’ve read about that we haven’t tried yet… But first…”

Steve tied the blindfold silk around his own cock in an elaborate (but not tight) bow, sending Bucky into gales of appreciative laughter.

“Now that’s a present I’m always up for receiving!”

Then Bucky quickly stopped laughing when Steve set about giving him a blowjob. Bucky ended up clutching at the sheets so hard that he ripped them.

“Whoops,” he said unrepentantly afterwards.

“They had a noble death.”

xXx

They were lying side by side on the wreck of the bed, holding hands.

Bucky winked at Steve in the ceiling mirror. Steve laughed.

“Did you put the mirror up on your own?”

“Thor helped. He’s great at furniture moving. He also said that the mirrors and the sheets gave him ideas for a Christmas surprise for Jane.”

When they went to collect Brooke and Lyn from Clint, JARVIS had to let them into his apartment, because Clint was lying on his sofa with both cats curled up on top of him.

Bucky commented, “If super villains find out this method of keeping you pinned down, you’re screwed!”

xXx

They did a Skype call to Peggy, talking to her and a few of her grandchildren, then some calls with Bucky’s relatives, who had also taken Steve in as a surrogate family member.

During Christmas Day, Thor appeared on Skype, eagerly wanting to compare notes.

“That was a magnificent suggestion, Bucky! We are most grateful. The sheets and the mirror were splendid, though the sheets were very flimsy. And I must get used to the mirror, as I woke up afterwards and saw movement above me and nearly went to use Mjolnir before I realized it was just myself I could see!”

xXx

The Great Lap War began when both Brooke and Lyn decided that they wanted to settle on Bucky’s lap. Lyn wasn’t as small now, so they couldn’t easily fit, and there was a tussle as they both tried to claim it. Brooke went sliding off, then regrouped.

“One of you can sit on _my_ lap, you know,” Steve pointed out in a miffed tone. “Or I might want to perch on that lap myself…”

Bucky laughed. Steve started stroking his hand along Bucky’s back and side on the sofa, then suddenly Brooke started batting at his hand, thinking he was doing that to play with her instead.

Eventually they temporarily banished the cats to their playroom, and got naked on the sofa and Steve did get on Bucky’s lap, while Bucky vigorously ‘topped from the bottom’.

In the midst of their pleasuring, Steve noticed there was an odd expression on Bucky’s face. “What’s wrong?”

“I think there’s a cat toy jabbing into my butt cheek.”

“They really do get revenge…”

xXx

A good thing about JARVIS was that he could feed or talk to the cats when required, or monitor them. Like when Steve and Bucky were away from the Tower.

“Status update on our girls, please, JARVIS?” Steve asked.

“Miss Lyn appears to be talking to a potted plant. Miss Brooke is asleep in a sunbeam.”

Five minutes later: “Miss Lyn is in an altercation with the potted plant. I will tell her to cease – ah. She has vanquished her foe.”

Or “They are having a territorial dispute over a toy mouse.”

“Didn’t you two teach your girls to share?” Tony asked.

xXx

Steve posted a video on his social media accounts, with the caption:

_Announcement: From now on, Lyn’s main nickname is changed from Ninja to Whinger. Listen to this:_

_“Mowwwwwwwwwwww. Mowwwww!”_

_“Sweetheart, you’ve been fed!”_

_“Mowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.”_

xXx

They were lying on their bed after an epic bout of lovemaking. Steve was slumped on top of Bucky, inside him. They were still locked together, embracing, gasping in delight through the aftershocks, grinning at each other sappily.

Then suddenly there was a “Brrrrrrr-MOW!”, which was all the warning they had before Brooke landed on Steve.

Steve swore and jolted in surprise. Not a wise move in his current position. Oh Lord. He looked in the wardrobe mirrors and saw Brooke perched on his naked back. He wriggled to try to persuade her to jump off (which was a bit of a bad move).

“Brooke, I’m kind of in the middle of something here!”

Bucky looked in the mirror and started cackling with laughter. “Do you think she’s thinking: ‘Surf’s up!’ or: ‘Tonight we ride!’?”

“Don’t laugh… Don’t laugh! You’re … Oh God! You’re NOT helping matters!” As if he didn’t have a short enough refractory period as it was, without Bucky moving around like _that_.  
Brooke slid around a little on the sweat-soaked expanse of skin, like a skier on a slope, then lifted one of her paws up in a finicky manner, as if to say, ‘Ewww, wet!’ Then she suddenly sat down to have an emergency licking session, vigorously washing one of her back legs.

“Brooke, get off me!” Wriggling around gently and trying to get his hand around behind him to gently push at her in an effort to dislodge her was also not a wise idea. Not just because of his position (and the resulting filthy moans from Bucky), but because the claws came out in an effort to gain some traction. “Ow!”

Bucky showed no sympathy for his ouchie. “You didn’t shut the door properly…”

“I thought I did! But I was a little distracted at the time! And whose fault was that?”

Lyn’s face and front paws suddenly popped up over the edge of the bed as she balanced on her back legs. She sniffed, whiskers twitching, as if wondering what the smell was.

“Oh sure – the more, the merrier!” Steve groused.

Buck was more philosophical. “Just as well it wasn’t a few minutes ago. And just as well they aren’t children and won’t ask us what the hell we’re up to.  Or tell anyone about it.”

“From the internet, people have a pretty good idea of what we’re up to. Lyn, stay there. Brooke, get off me!”

“Hey, is it still classed as ‘cattus-interruptus’ if the sex was all over bar the withdrawal and the snuggling?” Bucky inquired.

Steve sighed. He was surrounded by unhelpful creatures today. And he didn’t want to yell at the cats. “JARVIS?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Can you please call the cats from out in the kitchen, and tell them there’s food there?”

JARVIS: “Brook! Lyn! Treats!”

The cats scampered out of the room.

xXx

After a quick joint shower, Bucky rubbed some ointment into the scratches. Some had drawn blood. At least they wouldn’t take too long to heal. But of course, with Steve’s luck, when the others gathered that day for morning tea in their apartment, he reached onto a high shelf and his t-shirt rode up, exposing a bit of his flesh and some of the damage.

Natasha raised an eyebrow. “Are those scratch marks? You must have had a wild night!”

“That was the cat!”

“Suuuuuuuuuuuuure… Trim your talons, Barnes.”

Steve said, “Natasha, surely you can tell the difference between cat scratches and fingernail marks!”

“Oh, I do. But teasing you is so much fun.”

Clint commented, “So they really are cat scratches on your back? Kinky…”

Tony rolled his eyes and put his feet up on the coffee table. It creaked ominously. “Is there no square inch of this place left unsullied?”

Bucky grinned. “We’ll file that for future reference.”

Steve considered it thoughtfully. “Yeah, I don’t think we’ve done it there yet. How careless of us.”

xXx

Steve said, “Okay, I think we’re all packed. No last-minute scramble tomorrow.”

Bucky replied, “Good, let’s go to bed.”

“I’m looking forward to meeting Sam and seeing Peggy again. Then you and I having our long overdue road trip. I’ll miss the girls though.”

“That’s why we’re doing it in chunks, instead of all at once.”

Then, after that, they’d see how they both felt about their future roles in the world – but they were both fairly sure that Bucky would join the Avengers and that Steve would continue as an Avenger. Their lives were full of possibilities. It was a wonderful feeling.

They settled down to sleep, with a few kisses and a lot of snuggling.

Steve watched their reflections in the mirrors. They looked younger now than they had during the war. He felt full of joy.

He didn’t know that they would find out during the year that HYDRA wasn’t as dead and gone as they had thought; for example, Bucky’s first counselor had been one of their members. But together and with their friends, they would stand up against HYDRA, fight them, and prevail. For now, they slept, content and happy.

xXx

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very much for reading!  
> Most of the chapters of this fic were posted without being betaed, as my usual beta readers went through some hectic real life patches, so when they do get to read it, I’ll go through and do some tweaking.  
> Random author note: When pets are in a fic, I love it, but I do then find myself tensing in any love scenes, half-expecting one of the pets to burst in, so I wrote the ‘cattus-interruptus’ scene as a homage to that.  
> I did have another scene I was working on that was in this end chapter, but I’ve decided that I’ll probably incorporate it into another story in this universe at some stage instead.


End file.
